Shots
by TheBaeTide
Summary: Just one shots, little stories, miniature doses of Richonne things. Rated M because I like to cover adult themes most of the time, hopefully a broader range of genres are included, but mainly for the drama, angst, tragedy, and heartache lovers. (And romance, of course). All types of Rick & Michonne.
1. Chapter 1 - Water

**WATER**

...

"Can I get you somethan' for that? That's a nasty cut-"

"No. It's fine"

"...You sure? You both look like you can use some help-"

"It's fine. We're fine."

"Alright... You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, mam. We're not"

"Going on a road trip?"

"Yeah."

"That your girlfriend over there?"

"My wife"

"Oh! You both look so young!"

Michonne grew tired of listening to their conversation from the aisle in the small gas station, so she snatched the keyring off its hook and stepped over to the counter, sliding next to the two bottles of water, before leaving the store entirely.

She soon regretted not being in the shade, as it was hot out, too hot for her to bare, without a cloud in the sky. She sought cover beside the truck, leaning against the passenger door as she shielded her eyes with her hand.

She considered the landscape beautiful when they first set out on their travels, barely taking her eyes off the light, earthy tones that surrounded the dirt roads, or the bruised sky when the sun would set, but she was growing irritable, and so was he.

He tried to hide his frustration, taking it out on the truck instead, slamming the door closed every chance he got. She wouldn't say anything, mainly because she didn't want to. She was in too much of a bad mood herself, most of the time.

"Here"

She only had to turn her head an inch to see the water bottle held out to her. She shook her head, being stubborn.

"I'm not asking"

His voice still hadn't recovered from all the yelling he did nights ago, so he sounded more raspy than usual. She looked at his hand, specifically, his blood stained knuckles, and took the bottle without a word.

"Anythan'?"

She shook her head, hating how he would ask her that every few hours.

He didn't immediately move. Instead he stood a foot away from her, watching her through his squinted, cloudy eyes. She only glanced at him for the briefest time, before opening the door and climbing in the vehicle.

He joined her moments later, his frustration beginning to show when he slammed the door. She peered at him from the corner of her eyes when he began fussing with something, and saw he was attaching the keychain that read 'Rick' onto the car keys, to join the rest that she had picked up. It was always easier to find his name than her own.

He pulled out, back onto the dirt road, in silence. She didn't necessarily like not speaking to him, but she was getting used to it, only looking over at him when he asked something that required more than a nod or shake of her head. Otherwise, she lay against the headrest and gazed out the window, relishing in the breeze that brought her such relief from the heat.

A short time later, she heard Rick suck air between his teeth, muttering to himself, "Damn"

She turned her head to look at him, wondering which of his many cuts or bruises had caused him discomfort for a countless time. He shook his wet hand away from him, the other balanced on the steering wheel while holding a bottle of vodka. Michonne quickly realised what he was doing, and reached over to take the bottle from him. He peaked in her direction only once, then kept his eyes on the road when she took hold of his hand.

There was hardly any skin left on his knuckles, and the sight of the wounds almost sent Michonne's stomach running. She poured a little more over the injury, expecting him to pull away from her, but he didn't. Using her yellow sundress, she dried the area, staining the floral print.

He finally pulled away, "Don't do that"

She leered at him, wondering if he had forgotten that there was plenty of blood on her dress already. She took the chance to examine his face while she looked at him strangely, and she was pleased to see that he wasn't as swollen as the previous day. A bruise still sat under his eye, the cut on his lip still visible, as well as a few smaller cuts on his jaw.

It dawned on her that she was staring at her husband. No longer her high school sweetheart, or just her boyfriend, but her husband. It was a title that meant something greater than she understood. To marry, was an adult thing to do, and they had barely settled into their adult ages. Although, as unsure as she was, she knew without a doubt that she loved him more than anything else, and he was the greatest matter to her.

Facing the windshield, she touched her lip, trying to see if her own tear had healed, but wincing when she applied pressure near her loose tooth.

"Don't play with it"

"I'm not", She snapped back, her voice hoarse and dry.

He looked at her with a raised brow, then back at the road, "Drink the water"

Michonne knew most of his orders were for her benefit, but there was a harshness to his tone that she wasn't used to, and it unsettled her. She continued to stare out the windshield as if he hadn't said anything at all, and in turn he shook his head, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

They resumed to their usual silence, staring tiredly at the long stretch of road ahead of them, which was terribly fitting for their situation. She found herself feeling uncomfortable after sitting in the same position, for what felt like hours. While leaning forward, she reached behind, trying not to grimace from the pain that radiated from her ribs, unhooking her bra gingerly, and slipped her arms out the straps, dropping it on the seat beside her. She almost shuddered with relief.

"Anything?"

She sighed, in an exasperated manner, "No."

He rolled his shoulders back, like he often did when annoyed. Her father would do the same. Rolling his shoulders and his neck, as if preparing to battle. She hated to admit it, but she saw similarities between the two. Both were capable of flying into blind fits of rage, destroying everything in their path, however, for Rick to reach that level of anger, he had to witness a gross injustice the ones he loved, whereas her father didn't. He was always fuming, and he preferred to take it out on the ones he claimed to love.

"If we don't get to the next town before dark then we'll pull up somewhere… maybe by some trees or somethan'..."

Michonne was too busy trying to fight the urge to sleep to focus on his words, her eyelids growing increasingly heavy.

"...I'll call my brother the next chance I get. Let him know where we are…"

She slowly nodded, still barely listening.

"Drink somethan' before you go to sleep"

Her eyes snapped open, landing on the bottle of water that rolled back and forth on the dashboard. She was thirsty, and she couldn't even remember why she was refusing to drink it in the first place.

A sip was not enough, and she nearly drained the bottle. She didn't care that it was warm from sitting in the sun's rays.

"You need to eat somethan'-"

"I'm going to sleep", Her throat felt considerably better when she spoke, but she was still tired, and so she hoped that he would let her rest in peace.

He chose to ignore her announcement instead, "You gonna' tell me what I did wrong back there?"

She dropped the bottle back on the dashboard as she sent him a warning look.

"You think I did too much?", He challenged, his eyes coming to life.

"I'm going to sleep", She repeated firmly.

"You wanted me to stand back? Let him hit you some more?"

His words stung, and she shot back, "Leave me alone!"

His jaw clenched as he tore his eyes away from her, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

She sat back against the headrest, turning away from him. It was all too raw for her to discuss, and she would have thought the same for him. The time would come that they would talk about it, but not when both were in a bad mood, and still so shaken.

Sleep had finally taken over, and soon her vivid dreams began. The kind of dreams that felt so real that she would wake up and check her surroundings, sure she was back at her father's home, in her old bedroom. Given the chance, she'd go back and retrieve all that she could, but that wasn't possible. To step foot back in her childhood home wasn't possible. To step foot back in their hometown, was definitely not possible.

Light movements woke her, and both hands instinctively fell on either side of her rounded stomach. Her breaths deepened, her heart beat pounding in her chest. She was so overcome with emotion that she didn't realise she was alone in the truck, parked outside an old motel on a highway.

"Rick!", She yelled out of the open driver side window. It was the first time she said his name in days, "Rick!"

He appeared at her window, yanking open the door with eyes wide from panic, "What's wrong?!"

"I felt something", She explained, grabbing his hand and putting it on the affected area, "Here, I felt something here"

"You did- you felt somethan'? You're sure?", His eyes darted all over her face.

She nodded, her messy bun rocking back and forth on her head.

He kept his hand on her bump, "That's good then, right? That means he's alright? He has to be, if he's moving?"

"I think so", Her voice broke, tears welling up in her eyes, "I think he's okay"

Rick's other hand moved to the back of her neck as a disbelieving chuckle left him, "He's alright. He's gonna' be alright, okay? We ain't far now, we'll get him checked out- we're almost there. We're gonna make it"

She wiped her eyes with the back of her fingers, overjoyed to feel her son move, "Yeah"

He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers while his thumb stroked the nape of her neck. She placed her hand on his forearm, feeling safe with her husband again.

He pulled back an inch, his nose brushing hers, "We'll be alright. I promise"


	2. Chapter 2

**WATER** : PART 2

...

 _"Whatcha' here for boy?"_

 _Rick should have been used to the older man's attitude, but he wasn't. He couldn't stand him. Whenever his identical blue eyes landed on Rick, he immediately grew defensive, whether it was early in the morning or late at night, he was prepared to war with the man. He crossed his arms over his bare chest as he leaned against the door frame to the kitchen, "I gonna' ask Michonne to marry me"_

 _His father stopped slithering mustard on a slice of bread to look at his son, sweat pebbled on his forehead from the unkind heat, "What?"_

 _"I said", Rick spoke slower, firmer, "I'm gonna' ask Michonne to marry me-"_

 _"Is that what you think?", His father challenged, his top lip beginning to curl, "You think you're gonna' marry her? Start bringing her around here?"_

 _"I'm gonna' marry her", Rick spoke with finality._

 _The older man turned to face him, his hand lying flat on the table, "What? You think you're a man now, huh? You got your little chest out… your chin up like you're ready to take a hit…"_

 _Rick barely blinked, staring into the eyes of the man he had come to loathe._

 _"You think her father's gonna' allow that?", He snickered, teasing his son, "That man hates you. He probably wouldn't piss on you if you was on fire, and you think he's gonna' give you his blessing? You think he's gonna welcome you, with open arms-"_

 _"He's not a factor in any of this. He can jump up and down, curse all he wants. None of that matters to me"_

 _His father's expression grew dark, no longer finding his son amusing, "Let me tell you this… You marry her, and you don't come around here again. You go set up home far from here, and you don't bother me or your mother again, you hear me? You wanna' run around with them, then fine, I don't care. Have your little friends. No skin off my nose…"_

 _He watched his father lift the butter knife to point at him._

 _"But you take one of their women, and you wanna walk around with her, like she's yours… Well I got news for you, she ain't ever gonna' be yours. She belongs to them, just like you belong to us, and when you decide to mix all of that together, you make somethan' ugly. Somethan' unnatural, and I'll be a dead man before I let that happen in my house. So if you marry that girl, and I catch you on my property, you'll get the beatin' of your life, boy. You'll be the same colour as one of them by time I'm done with you"_

 _Rick continued to stare him down as he pushed off the door frame, slowly turning around and disappearing into the dark hallway._

...

"So are you going to tell me what happened now? Why you look like this and why she looks like that?"

Rick watched his older brother take a seat in front of him around the small breakfast table, "Her dad"

"Her father? He did this to the two of you?", Jeffrey's eyes widened.

"Yeah. He found out about everythan'... mom called him…"

"How'd mom find out?"

Rick nearly cringed, "She came home early, and caught us… foolin'. She didn't know Michonne was pregnant…"

"Wait, how'd you hide that one?", Jeffrey raise his eyebrows at him.

"She's been hiding under jumpers and sweatshirts-"

"I'm ninety degree weather?"

"Only when we were out"

His brother shook his head, wearing a disappointed expression, "How'd it go down?"

Rick turned the glass of water on the table, "We planned on leaving, so we went over to her house… went to get a few thangs, but her dad was there… he and I got into it, she was trying to stop it so he started on her… he knocked her down… tried stomping on her and… I lost it. I just lost it"

Jeffrey glanced towards the kitchen door when they heard laughter coming from down the hall, "You kill him?"

Rick blew an unsteady breath, "I wish... We left, went back home and then dad was there… he started on me-"

"God damn", Jeffrey sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We left with barely anythan'. We've been driving for two days straight-"

"You're here now. That's all that matters. Dad ain't gonna come up here looking for you", His brother smirked, "He don't even wanna be in the same state as me, so you're fine"

Rick stopped turning the glass, "Thanks"

"You need to get some rest, but just know that this ain't a Holiday Inn, tomorrow I'm taking you up to the factory with me, and we'll get you a job. There's a girl in that room that's carrying your child, you have to take care of them. You're a husband and father now, and those are the two most important jobs a man can have, so you better take that seriously"

"I know. I will", Rick huffed, dragging his hands over his face, "I will"

He couldn't be more grateful to have his brother's help. He just wanted Michonne to have somewhere comfortable to rest, as opposed to sleeping in the truck or on a stiff motel mattress. Now he knew that their baby was fine, he could look after them properly, and keep them out of harm's way.

Michonne was sat on the couch in the lounge, speaking with his sister in law, while the woman held his sleeping niece in her arms, smiling when she saw Rick, "Oh, let me fix the basement for you-"

"It's alright, Karen. I got it", Rick insisted, "You just worry about her"

"I need to put her down. She's getting heavy", Karen took her time standing up, "Just yell if you need anything. Well, not _literally_ -"

"Got it", Rick snickered, moving out the way to let her pass, "Good night"

"Night!"

Michonne also stood up, wearing a large t-shirt and one of Karen's old maternity leggings, "I'm tired"

"I know, come on", He held his hand out to her, and she took it.

They walked back into the hallway, and Rick led her to the stairs to the basement. The house was incredibly homely, with soft carpets and colour coordinated furnishings throughout. The basement wasn't grand, but it was perfect for just the two of them.

"My brothers taking me out tomorrow", Rick informed, taking the cushions off the pull-out sofa.

She hummed a response, too busy looking at the pictures on the wall.

"I think we get health insurance too… So we can get you checked out soon"

"Okay", She continued to look at the photos while he set up their bed, only turning to speak again when she'd examined every single one, "Karen said she can give us some stuff for the baby"

"Yeah?", Rick breathed, taking a seat on the finished product.

She nodded, swiftly joining him, "She said she had some clothes... a diaper bag"

"Alright", Rick laid back on the bed, relishing in the feel of the soft mattress. "He said we can stay as long as we need to but… maybe just a month, then we'll-"

"We don't need to talk about that right now", She cuddled up beside him, draping her leg over his, "We're here, and that's all that matters"

He hesitated for only a moment, "Yeah. You're right"

"...I want to call Maggie. Let her know that we made it"

Rick silently chuckled, "She looked like she wanted to kill me when you told her we were leaving"

"She probably did", Michonne sniggered, "Her best friend isn't a short walk away anymore"

"She can come visit when we're on our feet. It won't be the same but… she can stay with us"

"Yeah", She sighed, her fingers playing with his shirt.

He tilted his head to look at her, "You alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Just thinking about… Everything"

"Don't. We need to leave all of that back in town", His tone was light, but still held some firmness, "The three of us are starting new. This is our chance to live the life we always wanted and I don't want anythan' to hold us back"

"I know", She looked up at him through her dark lashes, "I want this"

"So do I"

She moved, resting on her forearm, her face over his, "I'm sorry"

He frowned at her, "For what?"

"...Being a mean pregnant lady"

He chuckled, tucking on of her locks behind her ears, "It doesn't matter. You're my mean pregnant lady"

She leaned down, pressing her lips against his, and Rick welcomed the kiss from his wife. They hadn't been able to have a moment to themselves since his mother caught them together at his old home, and Rick missed being able to hold her in his arms. He looked forward to doing it whenever he pleased.

"Hey…", Michonne whispered against his lips, taking hold of the hand that had found her ass, "I'm way too tired for that"

He pouted at her, a little whimper leaving him, "Fine"

"It's late-"

"I know", He groaned, his eyes darting all over her face. He suddenly felt compelled to speak again, "If you're father goes to the police, and I have to deal with that-"

"Don't talk like that", She issued firmly, "He won't. He hates the police-"

"Probably not as much as he hates me", He countered, "And if he does decide to go to them then I want you to promise me that you'll stay here"

"No"

"Michonne-"

"You are not leaving me"

"I won't, I never will, but if I have to, then you stay here. I don't want you to get involved, at all. I want you to promise me that you won't"

She shook her head, adamant about her refusal, "I'm not promising that. I'm won't hide out here and leave you to deal with everything on your own"

"I have to think about you and you have to think about him", His hand slid up to her protruding stomach.

"I have to think about you too", She sat up straight, visibly annoyed, "You can't keep trying to handle everything yourself-"

"Not everythan'-"

"Everything!", She scoffed.

"You're my wife, Michonne", He sat up straight, frowning at her, "You're carrying our child, I don't want the two of you in harm's way again. I know if you were in my position you'd act the exact same way as I do"

Her brows were knitted together as she looked elsewhere, "I'm not promising anything"

He ran his hand down her back, hoping to soothe her, "Are you going to let me take of you? Both of you?"

He could see her soften, not sitting so rigidly, "If you let me do the same"

He smiled, forgetting how stubborn she was, "If that's what you want"

"It is.", She nodded, her eyes traveling up to his.

He took hold of her hand, "Then we'll take care of each other".

 **END**.


	3. Chapter 3 - In The Meantime

_In The Meantime_

...

"You can't come in my house unless we're married. My dad said so."

Rick looked around aimlessly for a moment, trying to find another solution, "Do we have to get married?"

The little girl in front of him nodded, her arms crossed over her chest, "That's what my dad said"

Rick scratched his chestnut brown hair roughly, "Okay. We're married now"

"No! You have to get me a ring."

His shoulders fell, "...I don't have any money, Michonne."

"Then you have to get some… or ask your mom"

Rick looked around again, trying to find something else to appease his friend. His gaze landed on a daisy in the grass, only a foot away from them, so he quickly grabbed it, "What about this?"

She stared at the flower for a moment, obviously weighing up her options, and she soon smiled, "Okay."

He handed her the flower, and she spun on her heel, finally climbing the ladder to her treehouse. Rick had been dying to see the treetop retreat ever since he saw her father building it, and he could barely contain his excitement. The man had installed a bench and table inside, as well as a little bookcase and shelves for her toys.

"Now we're married you have to look after me"

Rick began to frown, looking down at the younger girl, "How?"

Michonne seemed to hesitate, her eyes sailing off behind him, while she fidgeted with the hem of her red and white polka dot dress, "I don't know"

He watched her carefully, his eight year old mind starting to feel the pressure of their adult game, "...I can get you one of my mom's cookies?"

Her eyes lit up, "Yeah! Okay"

Relief washed over him, "Okay. I will"

"Look, I can see your house", She announced, pointing out the glassless window.

Rick leaned on the ledge and peered out at the neighbourhood, "You can see everything"

"I'm going to get a house high up like- like the ones in the city", She insisted excitedly, "And we can see everywhere!"

The thought made him nauseous, "I don't like being too high up"

Michonne looked at him with wide eyes, "...Oh. You don't have to look then"

Rick scratched at the wood with his fingernail, pleased with the option, "Okay"

"What happened to your hand?", She queried, pointing at the scab on his elbow.

He checked it himself, "I fell off the wall at school"

"I've got one", She bent her knee in front of her, exposing the fresher wound, "Pete pushed me- he was running and he didn't stop and-and I scraped my knee and my hand"

His blue eyes examined the injury, deciding in that moment that he didn't like Pete anymore, "Does it hurt?"

She shook her head, placing her foot back on the floorboard, "No. I didn't cry. I was mad and I pushed him"

Rick chuckled, feeling better for his friend.

"Aye! Rick! Where are you?!"

Both children looked out the window when they heard his brother yelling for him. Rick called back, "I'm here!"

Jeffrey appeared from the side of Michonne's home, shielding his eyes from the sun as he peered up at them, "Come on! We're going to the store!"

"Can I come?", Michonne requested, looking to Rick.

"Can Michonne come?!", Rick quizzed, raising his eyebrows at his brother.

Jeffrey shrugged, "Yeah. Whatever. _You're_ watching her though! And I'm not buying you guys anything!"

He looked back to Michonne, "Come on"

The two of them quickly descended the ladder, and followed behind the older boy as they left her backyard.

It was a sunny afternoon, and other children were out playing in the street, running around chasing each other from yard to yard. Rick would often play with them when Michonne wasn't around, and when she was, they stayed at her home. Her mother thought she was too young to play in the street, but Rick didn't mind the restriction, as the other children were older than both of them, and much more rambunctious.

"...And Maggie said she got to hold the baby pig", Michonne informed, skipping alongside him.

"Really?", He frowned, looking from his brother's back, to her.

"Yeah"

They reached the crossing beside the store, and Rick instinctively took hold of Michonne's hand, knowing she sometimes got so caught up in her stories that she didn't pay attention.

"Don't touch anything in there either", Jeffrey warned as they strolled across the street.

Rick huffed, he was used to receiving the same speech from his mother, "I know"

The store was nearly empty, with only two customers wandering the aisles, while the young girl at the counter sat flicking through a magazine, chewing on some gum.

"Wait here", Jeffrey ordered, before stalking away from his tag alongs.

Michonne soon crouched down, fussing with her shoelace, and Rick watched how she struggled to tie a perfect bow like the other one. He decided to take over after witnessing her failed attempts.

"Can we look at the candy?", She pointed to the shelves not far from them.

Rick stood up and looked around for his brother, but still nodded when he didn't see him, "Come on"

Michonne bolted over to the confectionary, her eyes darting from packet to packet, "My mom hides candy under her bed"

Rick thought for a moment, "My mom hides it in the pantry"

"I eat some sometimes"

"I can't reach my mom's…"

"We can hide some in the treehouse"

He liked the sound of that idea, and he was ready to agree when he heard his brother's voice nearby. He turned to see his older sibling talking to two of his friends by the door, so he tapped Michonne, signalling for her to follow.

"Where going over to Bruce's house, he got a new air rifle"

Jeffrey's eyes brows sprung up, "No way!"

"Yeah! Come on, come with us"

"I can't, I've got to watch my brother until my mom gets home from the salon", Jeffrey glanced in Rick's direction.

The two other boys eyed the younger Grimes boy, before one of them shrugged, "Just make him wait on the porch or something"

Jeffrey looked at Rick again, then Michonne, considering the suggestion. He slowly started to nod, "Yeah. Alright. Come on"

Rick hated when his brother dragged him to his friend's homes, and he hated having to wait on the porch even more so, "We can go back to Michonne's. I know the way"

Jeffrey tilted his head at him, "You know the way?"

"Yeah"

"No you don't"

"I swear I do!"

"Alright then, _which_ way do you go?", Jeffrey challenged, tilting his head at Rick.

"Back up that street", Rick pointed to the right hand side, "Then up that street with the mean dogs out front"

"See? Just let him go", Jeffrey's blonde haired friend urged, pulling open the door to the store.

Jeffrey didn't look too keen on the idea, but still agreed, "...Fine, but if mom finds out then it's on you"

"I know", Rick did know his brother wouldn't accept any blame at all. He turned his attentions back to Michonne, "Come on"

Jeffrey and his friends wasted no time leaving the two younger children, which came as no surprise to Rick, but he was too busy trying to make sure he did indeed remember the way back to their street. Their homes weren't far at all, and he had taken the path plenty of times before, but never alone.

"Do bees talk to each other?"

Rick barely looked at Michonne as he waited for the road to clear, "...I don't know"

"...I think they do."

It wasn't something Rick was going to contemplate, as he was more focused on crossing the street in one piece. When he saw a safe opportunity, he took hold of her hand once again, "Come on"

"...That's why they buzz so much. Because they're talking to each other"

"Okay"

"...Does your mom and dad shout a lot?"

The question caused Rick to frown, "... sometimes"

"Mine do."

He nodded, not sure what to say to that revelation, but he was glad they made it across the street, "We have to walk down this street…"

Michonne didn't let go of his hand, "Okay"

She continued to spill little stories as they walked along the sidewalk, all while Rick concentrated on following the exact route they took to get to the store. It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, and when they stopped at an unfamiliar street corner, panic began to set in.

"...And then Mrs Lansford said he was sleeping… but I don't think he was… I think he was dead", Michonne huffed, her eyes roaming around as she finished her story, "Where are we?"

Rick's stared up one street, then the other, "...I'm not sure… I think we walked too far"

"Oh."

"Come on, let's walk back", He tugged her to turn around, and they headed back the way they came.

"My mom said we can't get a cat"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"...Cats are mean anyway"

Michonne's brows knitted together, "Really?"

"Yeah. My grandma has one, and it always scratches me"

Her eyes widened, "I don't like that"

"Me neither", Rick's heart beat slowly returned to normal when he noticed a mailbox that they passed earlier, "This way"

"What about dogs?"

"...They're okay, I guess"

"My aunt has a parrot"

"Does it talk?"

"He says hello sometimes"

Rick was amazed, "Really?"

"Yeah", She began to pick up the pace, "Look! I know where we are! Dale lives here!"

"Who's Dale?", Rick tried to slow her down, but she was determined.

"He's my dad's friend and he gives me chocolate coins"

She pulled him up to a small, blue house with an RV parked in the driveway. Rick wasn't sure who the man was, and he was weary of going any further, but Michonne seemed certain that she knew what she was talking about.

"Dale!", Her high pitched voice called as they approached the porch, "Dale!"

"He's not home", Rick lied, looking for any reason to leave.

"We have to knock first", She continued to tug him up the steps and to the front door, which opened before she even had a chance to.

A tall dark haired man appeared, wearing a large smile, "Well hello! What are you doing here?"

"We went to the store, but we're going home now", Michonne informed.

"Oh, ain't that nice! Who's this? A friend from school?"

"This is Rick. We're married"

Rick's cheeks flamed, while Dale's eyes almost bulged as he chuckled, "Well I'll be damned, ain't that something?"

"Can we have chocolate coins, please?"

The man chuckled again, "Of course you can, wait right here and I'll fetch you some"

"Okay", Michonne chimed, and as soon as Dale disappeared inside her home, she whispered to Rick, "Told you"

"...We have to hurry before my mom gets home", Rick whispered back.

"But the coins?"

"Well get the coins and go"

They waited patiently until the man's return, and he held out a small bag of coins, much to Michonne's delight.

"Now the two of you have to promise me that you'll share them, and you won't eat them all at once, deal?"

Rick and Michonne both nodded, before the boy spoke, "Thank you, sir"

Dale's eyebrows rose, clearly impressed, "Well you are more than welcome. Make sure you go straight home now, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Dale, and thank you!", Michonne beamed.

Rick also bid the man farewell, and the two of them quickly left, continuing on with their short journey home.

"We can hide them in our treehouse"

He nodded, "Yeah. Okay"

"I don't want my mom to take them…"

"She won't"

Michonne only let go of his hand when they finally made it back to their street, and she soon started to skip beside him again.

Rick was glowing with pride, pleased he had gotten them home, and he was sure his mother hadn't returned yet, so he was in a playful mood, "Race you back to the treehouse?"

She nodded excitedly, "Okay!"

They both bolted down the sidewalk, grinning from ear to ear, but as Rick was taller, he took the lead easily.

"Not fair!", Michonne cried out, causing Rick to chuckle.

They were only several homes away from hers when he heard the scream. A scream that would come to haunt him for the rest of his days. He came to an abrupt halt, scared Michonne might have fallen and hurt herself, but what he saw was even more terrifying.

A tall dark figure had her in his arms, climbing into the back of a black car as she squirmed in his arms, her eyes wide with panic. Rick was frozen in fear, his heart beating in his ears as he watched helplessly, the car's tires screeching as it sped off down the street.

His hands shook violently, and he looked around for someone, anyone, to help. He remembered her mother was home, and so he ran as fast as he could to her house, his eyes stinging with tears.

"Rick? What's the matter?"

"Someone- Michonne", Rick explained hurriedly, pointing down the street, "Someone took her, someone took her in a car and-and-"

"What?!", Her mother rasped, stepping outside the house, "What?!"

"They took her and- we were running and she- she-"

The woman ran out to the street, screaming in horror, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Michonne! Michonne!"...


	4. Chapter 4

_In the Meantime_

Part Two:

Rick's hand had hovered over the door handle for almost a solid minute. His heart felt as if it had migrated to his ears, while his stomach was in a bundle. In his mind, this day would have never came. He had long given up hope that it would, not because he didn't care, but because he knew statistics told him otherwise.

He was sure his life wouldn't turned out the way it had if Michonne wasn't kidnapped. He was sure he wouldn't have had as many hang-up's as he did, and he would have grown up to me a nicer person. But sadly, that wasn't the case.

It was only after joining the police department that his attitude changed. He was in a position to utilise the resources to look for her, but it wasn't easy, especially as it had been well over a decade since the incident. His colleagues warned him not to reopen the case, but he did so anyway, determined to find someone who knew something. He could easily admit now that looking back, that was what ruined him.

Knowing that little to nothing was done to look for her started the rage that burned within him. It was as if they treated her as a missing object and not a missing child, and with an abundance of missed opportunities to find her sat in front of him, Rick set out to make everyone involved pay.

It was a slow process, but one by one, he picked off the offending officers. He had to work hard to move up the ranks to do so, but he considered the cause a worthy one, even though it did nothing for his reputation, or to ease his own guilt.

However, Jeffrey carried the most guilt, and blame, and their mother wouldn't allow him to lighten that load, neither would Rick to an extent. He was sure Michonne's parents probably felt the boy could have done more too, but they never voiced such opinions, instead they fought with each other, and only a year after Michonne was taken, they divorced, and her father moved away.

Rick's relationship with her mother came to be a strange one. From an outsider's point of view, they could say that he was her stand in child, as he had felt so awful for the woman that he spent as much time with her as he could over the years. So much so that the mother stopped speaking to everyone else, and only ever opened the her front door to Rick. She closed everyone else out and became a recluse, only living in one room of her three bedroom, two storey home.

Rick didn't particularly blame her. After having his own child, he could see why the woman lost touch with everything else. He'd be absolutely beside himself if anything were to happen to Carl, especially if he didn't know if he were alive or dead.

But now he knew Michonne was alive, and on the other side of the door in front of him, he could barely compose himself. Everyone in the department that knew his background had watched him with pensive expressions, as if they were waiting to see their cold, cutting boss reduce to an overjoyed, sobbing mess.

Rick couldn't honestly rule out the chance of that happening. Despite the huge anticipation he felt, he still forced himself to grab the handle, swiftly opening the door and stepping inside.

His breath hitched in his throat at the sight of her. He used to be certain if he had seen her in passing, he'd be able to recognise her, and he was right. Her face had barely changed, she still had the brown doughy eyes that he remembered, but her lips were fuller, covered in a maroon lipstick, and her eyebrows neater. Anyone who didn't know the woman sat in front of him, probably wouldn't have guessed that she had gone through such a harrowing experience as a child. She wore a black dress that cupped her cleavage, with high heeled sandals, her wrists donned in gold bracelets and her waved locks fell over her shoulder. She looked immaculate, with no sign of any struggle or misconduct to get there.

"Lieutenant, we-"

"Get out", Rick rasped, not bothering to look at the other two officers in the room. He was sure they probably shared a brief look of annoyance before standing up and leaving the room.

Michonne inched back in her seat, her brows furrowing together as she watched with alarmed eyes.

"You don't remember me, do you?", He crouched down in front of her, noticing the slightly timid look she wore.

"...I don't know, should I?", Her voice was rich, and while she didn't have much of a southern accent before, the small hints of it that she did have as a child were gone.

He slowly inhaled, "Do you remember what happened that day? The day you were taken?"

She gave a little nod, her eyes displaying nothing but uncertainty, "Yes"

"Tell me about it"

She hesitated, crossing one leg over the other, "I was out playing and I was taken"

"You were out, playing?"

"Yes. I was playing in the street and someone grabbed me-"

"No. That's not right", He shook his head.

She frowned at him, "Excuse me?"

"We were coming back from the store. We stopped at Mr Horvath's, then we were running to your backyard"

Her eyes grew wide, "How did-"

"We were gonna' hide the candy we got from him in your tree house. You remember that?"

She didn't immediately answer, and a few moments of silence passed. It was as if he could see her trying to retrieve whatever memory she had of him, and when finally she had it, she gasped.

"You remember me now?"

"Rick", She breathed his name, her eyes starting to glisten, "You've changed"

"Is that your way of calling me old?"

She chuckled weakly, "You don't look old. Just different"

He felt his own eyes begin to well up, "What happened after that?"

"Um", She sniffed, folding over a tissue in her hands, "I was in Atlanta. That's where they took me"

Rage started to simmer deep within Rick, "Atlanta? Who? Who are they?"

"...My parents"

His face nearly pinched with confusion, "They aren't you're-"

"I know", She dabbed the corner of her eyes, "I know"

He took in a long, calming breath, "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head, "No. Never"

"Where are they now?"

Her gaze dropped for the briefest of moments, "Why?"

Rick's eyebrows shot up, "Why? Wh- why do you think, Michonne?"

"I don't want them to get into any trouble", Her tone grew firm, "I'm here to say that I'm fine, and I've been fine, and that's it"

"They took you from your family?", Rick spoke with pure disbelief, "They took you from your mother? Do you have any idea what that's done to her?"

Her frown returned, "Done? She's here? She's still in town?"

"Yeah. She didn't leave… your dad did. Not long after everythan' happened"

Her chest sank, "I need to see her"

"You need to tell me where they are, Michonne. You need to. They can't get away with what they did, it doesn't matter if they didn't hurt you, or if they looked after you and raised you like their own, they still tore you away from us, and they need to pay for that"

A fresh new set of tears set in, "They- they're old, they won't be able to cope with all of this-"

"Your mother didn't cope. She didn't cope at all. Neither did your dad", He set his knee down on the floor, "I didn't. I grew up with that hanging over my head, and I just couldn't move on. I was reminded every time I left my house, when I walked past the spot, or when I went over to your mother's, even when I saw Dale. We didn't get any kind of closure, but they got to keep you, they got to enjoy you, while everyone else was left in the dark. You think that's fair?"

"No. No I don't think it's fair. I don't condone what they did, I'll never forgive them for it, and I hate that they intruded on my life, but it's been twenty-seven years, Rick. Twenty-seven years-"

"Why didn't you come-"

"Don't ask me that", She snapped, visibly annoyed, "Because it's not that simple. When you have spent day after day and night after night with the people who have wronged you, you get used to them and you no longer perceive them as a threat when they're looking after you. It's messed up, and it's all their fault but I love them. I care about them"

Rick raked his fingers through his hair, his mind racing. The situation wasn't one that he was used to, as he would have lost his temper from the moment she first refused to disclose her kidnapper's whereabouts, but he couldn't bring himself to flip over the nearest table or yell the place down. Instead he moved from one knee to the other, trying to hide his lack of credence, "I think I was meant to marry you"

Michonne's mouth fell agape.

"I was", He nodded, delving deeper into the darkest corner of his mind, "I obviously didn't think that back then. I couldn't even handle pretending to be married to you, It was too stressful… but I knew I cared about you more than anyone else. We were meant to grow up together and I was meant to take care of you with more than just my mom's cookies. You remember that?"

She giggled through tears, "Yeah. I liked being married to you"

"I'm glad", He took hold of her hand, his eyes zooming in on the large diamond on her finger, "Somebody already did that?"

She nodded, "But we're in the middle of a divorce right now"

"...Is that what made you come back?"

"Kinda. I was going back to my last name and… I just thought about my name before that…"

"What name have you gone by?"

"Lisa."

His top lip curled in disgust, "I don't like that"

The door to the room opened, and a male spoke, "Lieutenant, we need to start-"

"Get out!", Rick barked back, not bothering to look back. When he heard the door click shut, he sighed, "Sorry about that"

"I'm sure you weren't like this when we were kids", She gave him a pointed look.

"I wasn't", His thumb stroked the back of her knuckles, "I told you I had a hard time. It got harder when I had Carl. I'm always worried about him"

"Your son?"

"Yeah."

She beamed, "How old is he?"

"He just turned six not that long ago. He and his mother have gone to see her family this week", He saw the way her eyes darted to his left hand, "Divorced"

"Sorry"

"It's fine. It's better", He sighed a second time, "Does your… husband know? About everythan'?"

She shook her head, "No. I never told anyone"

He nodded, realising there were still countless questions to ask, but he didn't want to bombard her, "We're gonna' have to talk about them properly, you know that right? Not now, but… soon"

"Yeah", She toyed with the tissue in her other hand, "I know what your thinking-"

"I'd _hope_ that's not the case", He smirked, shaking his head as he looked around the room, aimlessly.

"You think I'm crazy?"

His eyes quickly found her face again, "No. I don't think that at all"

It was her turn to look elsewhere as she nodded, holding his hand a little tighter.

Rick rose to his feet, "I'll take you to see your mother"

She did the same, "You don't have to do that"

"No, I do. She might not open the door otherwise"

Michonne didn't move, "What does that mean?"

He tugged her gently, "Come on. I'll explain on the way there"

Rick wasn't sure if she didn't want to let go of his hand or if he didn't want to let go of hers, but they both held onto each other regardless. It was so easy for him to slip into his old role of her protector, although he could tell she wasn't as delicate as she seemed. She never was.

"My dad left?"

He glanced at her as he started the squad car, "Yeah. I think your mom was in contact with him for a little while after but… I don't think so anymore"

"...Do you see her a lot?"

"...Most days. Every other day"

She smiled sadly, "That's nice to know. What about… your brother? Your mom?"

His hold on the steering wheel tightened, "My mom's still running around, doing her own thang. I haven't spoken to Jeffrey for…. God knows how long"

"How come?"

"Do you have to ask?"

She studied the side of his face, "He thought it was his fault?"

"We all did. Even I blamed him. No more than I blamed myself but, I blamed him too", Rick glanced at her a second time when he didn't get a response, and Michonne was staring out the windshield, looking torn, "Hey, don't- it's alright. It happened and… that's it"

"My parents split up, my mom sounds like she's had it tough, you and your brother stopped talking…", She began toying with the balled up tissue again, "...I remember crying a lot. Almost constantly. They convinced me that they were my real parents, and that I had to live out here for school but… as I got older it just didn't add up. I think I was sixteen when I confronted them and my mom… she just cried… and by that time… I loved them. I cared about them so much. It might sound strange but… I didn't want to come back here because I didn't want to hurt them… but they didn't care who they hurt when they took me"

"I understand why you'd want to protect them", Rick offered sincerely, "But I need you to understand why I can't- I can't let them go. I can't, Michonne"

She dabbed at her eyes, giving a small nod, "I understand"

They both stood planted on the sidewalk staring at her mother's house when they arrived on their old street. Children were playing at the top of the cul-de-sac, running past the two of them occasionally, enjoying the sunny afternoon.

"You heading back to the city later?", He asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Yeah. Maybe. If it's not too late. If not I'll just crash at a motel or something", She shrugged.

"Alright", He nodded, "I'll give you and your mom some privacy if you want? I can come back and get you when you're ready-"

"Stay, please?", She requested gently.

Rick would have assumed that such a reunion would be held in private, but if she wanted him to stay, then he would, "Alright"

She took of hold of his hand, and Rick held on tight to hers, planning to never let go again.

 _End_.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Devil's Shot

**A/N:** This one shot will make a lot of sense if you've read 'Just Call me Lucifer'/ 'The edge of Hell', It's random little thing that I planned on posting last night but didn't get around to it, so hope you enjoy!

…

 **A Devil's Shot.**

"Just look at my handsome husband"

Rick could feel his cheeks flame as he bowed his head, "Stop that"

"How is it possible that you just get so much better with age?", She beamed, tilting her head as she admired him, "It's not fair"

"I'm sure the lady at the grocery store thought you were my young hot girlfriend that was waiting for me to die, Michonne", He reminded dryly.

She snorted at him, "That same lady had on glasses that were an inch thick"

He threw his head back as he chuckled, "She did, didn't she?"

"She did", His wife threaded her fingers through the hair at his nape as she looked around the quiet, dimly lit restaurant, "I'm so glad we get to do this again"

"What? Get rid of the kids?"

"Yeah"

"I told you, if you just tie Andre up and sit him on the couch with some cartoons on the TV and one of those water bottles you get with a hamster cage-"

"Rick."

He began to snicker, "That might not work, he'd probably chew right through the rope"

She cackled at him, flashing her pearly white teeth behind her full lips, "Stop. You leave my baby alone"

"I almost can't believe he'll be seven soon. You know what that means, don't you?"

"What?"

"Time for you to get pregnant again. Every seven years we have a baby"

She frowned at him, "I'm tired, Rick"

"I thought you wanted another?"

"I wanted us to look into adopting", She corrected, "There are plenty of kids out there who we could take on-"

"Plenty? You think we can afford plenty? I can barely even afford Judith"

"That's your own fault. You spoilt her-"

"She's my only girl. My sweet little angel", He insisted with an innocent tone, "She's such a good girl, too. Her grades couldn't be better, she looks after her little brother, her room is always spotless, she's doing great on the track team and Karate, and she's always practicing hard for the pageants. You think she doesn't deserve a little treat every now and then?"

His wife narrowed her eyes as she hissed at him, "A four hundred dollar coat isn't a little treat?!"

Rick shrugged nonchalantly, "That was a one off-"

"It wasn't even her birthday! If I spent that much on a coat for one of the boys, you'd implode! When I bought Carl a new car for his birthday, you nearly swallowed your tongue-"

"Because you bought him a brand new car when his truck was fine-", He furrowed his brows with disbelief.

"That truck was a death trap! I wouldn't even let them use it for parts! I can't even believe you would even consider letting him-"

"Excuse me ma'am, but I'm going to need you to lower your-"

Rick looked up at the waiter that had approached the table, giving him his infamous, warning glare, "You sure you wanna' do that?"

The younger male froze, his eyes widening a fraction, "Uh, but she's…"

Rick glare only intensified, "She's _what_?"

The waiter's eyes darted over to Michonne for a brief moment as if he were looking for help, but when unsuccessful, he simply nodded his head as he turned away, "Never mind"

"I need wine", Michonne groaned, reaching over her plate for her glass.

"Come on, let's not ruin our night talking about the kids", He urged, placing his hand on her knee beneath the table, "Just forget about them"

She giggled as she brought her glass up to her lips, "You are shameless"

"I want to sit back and enjoy looking at the most beautiful thang to grace this earth-"

"Oh stop", She grinned, crossing her lean legs beneath the table, "You're going to make me blush"

Something about having his hand trapped between her thighs made Rick's pulse quicken, "We got to the house to ourselves tonight-"

"We don't. Carl sent me message when we were in the car, I told him to head home since we'll be back late"

Rick's face fell, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I only get to see him twice a week, Rick", She stressed, "I hardly know what's going on with him anymore, he's always busy-"

"He's growing up, he's going out in the world on his own and he needs to stay out there"

Michonne pursed her lips at him, rolling her shoulders back as she gave him an unimpressed look.

Rick sighed sadly, "How often do we get the house to ourselves? Do you know how rare it is that we can drop Andre with Maggie and Judith with Sasha at the same time Carl's at the academy? I'm tempted to look outside for a blue moon… or a meteor"

She bit her lip in a poor attempt to hold back a smile, but failed, "I know Rick, but he's making an effort to stay over on the weekends so we get more ' _family time_ '. He even said he'd be able to make it to Judith's pageant"

Rick perked up at the mention of the upcoming event, "You should see her talent routine, it's perfect. The judges are gonna' fall in love with her"

Michonne stared at him for a short time, "They probably will but if she doesn't win, then it's okay-"

"How can she not win? She's been in almost twenty of them so far, and she's won fifteen-"

"I know, she practices hard and it shows when she's up there", His wife's tone grew firm as she spoke, "But you can't fly off the rails if she doesn't land first place"

He scoffed, throwing his hands up beside him, "I don't _fly off_ the rails, Michonne"

"Did you forget what happened at the last one? You cornered one of the judges in the parking lot!", She breathed, giving him the most incredulous look he had ever seen, "The man was as white as a sheet when you put him down!"

"He had an attitude", Rick insisted flatly, taking his tumbler off the table, "I didn't like it"

Michonne rolled her eyes as she picked up the dessert menu that the waiter had sat down for them earlier, "Yeah you said that, but I'm pretty sure you were the one with the- Oh, they have pie? Let's get pie"

"I couldn't eat anythan' else if I tried", He huffed, sitting back in the booth, glad his wife was distracted by her favourite treat.

"It's probably not as good as your moms though", She pouted at the booklet.

His eyebrows fell to a straight line, "That's a pretty high standard to meet, she makes hers from scratch, even the pastry, and she grows-"

" _Everythan' in her own backyard_ ", Michonne finished, mimicking his accent perfectly.

Rick slowly inhaled, "Am I that predictable after all these years?"

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, "I'd like to think that I know you better than you know yourself"

Rick rolled his tongue along his teeth as he considered her admission, feeling playful all of a sudden, "What's my favourite colour?"

"Your favourite colour?", She repeated whilst eyeing him suspiciously, "You don't have one?"

"That's not true"

"You do not have a favourite colour, Rick"

"I do. If I ever have to pick a colour, for whatever reason, I always go for the same one"

Michonne began to frown, her neatly plucked eyebrows knitting together as she racked her brain for the answer, "Red"

A surprised smile spread across his face, "You noticed?"

"Are you testing me?", She shut the menu, "The person who runs your life for you? Your secretary, your doctor, your personal shopper, your accountant, your-"

"You appointed yourself as my accountant", He ejected in a 'matter-of-fact' tone, "And strangely enough, I don't know many accountants that actually keep their clients cards-"

"I know almost every little detail there is about you", She continued, ignoring his sly remark, "If anything it should be me testing you"

Rick's mouth fell open in shock, "You think so?"

"What's my favourite colour?"

"Purple", He answered easily.

"Wrong. I like purple, but it's not my favourite colour", She corrected, crossing her arms in front of her.

Rick's head jerked back an inch, "Then orange"

"I hate orange. I think I declare that I hate the colour orange at least once a day"

He bit his tongue, shocked that he hadn't gotten it incorrect twice, "...Blue?"

"White", She finally confessed, "All my favourite dresses are white, the same with my shoes and my jackets"

He squinted at her, "Ask me somethan' else?"

She grinned mischievously, "My favourite book?"

Rick sat back in the booth as he combed through his memory of every book he had seen her read before bed, "...The colour purple?"

The corners of her mouth curled up into a smile, "You got that right"

He watched her closely, feeling a little shameful, "I can't believe I didn't know what your favourite colour was..."

"It's fine, Rick…", Her hand found its way to the back of his neck for a second time, toying with the hair at his nape, "...You still know considerably more than anyone else"

He began to squint at her again, "I should know everythan' about you"

"You know that I pay attention to things like the food you like, what kind of shirts you like to wear or which shampoo you prefer to use because that's how I take care of you, by making sure your needs are met… Whereas you take care of me by lavishing me with affection, spoiling me with the things I like and giving me almost anything I ask for. I don't think one of us cares more than the other and like Aaron said-"

"I don't care what Aaron said. All I care about is what you have to say", Rick ejected in a dismissive tone, "And what you just said was right"

"Of course it was right", She smirked, her fingers brushing his scalp, "It's how we help each other to function"

He gave her a crooked smile as he peered at her with adoring eyes, "That's how we work, huh?"

"Yes, and I wouldn't want it any other way"

His gaze cascaded down the length of her, admiring her form in the tight black dress she wore, "Since we're on the subject of ways we can have each other-"

Michonne chuckled as she shook her head at him, "That was not what we were talking about"

"Well I'm talking about it now", He grinned, slipping his hand around her waist and sliding her closer to him, "I think I changed my mind about dessert"

She raised a neatly groomed eyebrow at him, "I hope you're not talking about what I _think_ you're talking about"

He tilted his head at her, "And if I am?"

"It is _not_ your birthday"

He ran his tongue along his teeth as he tried not to laugh, his hand creeping down her hip to cup her ass, "We can pretend that it is"

"You never give me any kind of warning, you just start rummaging around back there-", She gasped when he squeezed her cheek, one his digits surprising close to her delicate area, making her whisper harshly, "See! That's what I'm talking about!

"Fine, here's your warning; Tonight, I plan to visit here…", His lips brushed her ear as he pushed his hand beneath her, his middle finger applying pressure on one entrance through the silky material of her dress, and his index finger on the other, "And here… and I don't plan to use _just_ my fingers either. Is that alright with you?"

Michonne's eyes grew wide with lust, her full lips almost parted as she appeared to either consider his request, or picture it.

The waitress approached the table, wearing a large smile as she gestured towards the desert menu, "I hope you enjoyed your meal, could I interest you in-"

His wife shook her head as she ejected bluntly, "The bill".

 **END.**


	6. Chapter 6 - RJD Challange

Richonne Just Desserts Challange

 **50 Reasons to have Richonne sex.**

#35 - Some Very Protected Sex to Celebrate the Fact That We're Not Pregnant.

"Michonne?... You okay?"

Rick's voice was softer than usual, like it often was when he was being extra careful with her. She had figured that it came from a place of uncertainty, but with Rick being Rick, he wanted to put on a brave face for her.

Michonne sat the pregnancy test down on the counter before yanking open the bathroom door, which quickly probed to be the wrong move, as Rick had been leaning against it.

He grabbed the door frame before he could completely lose his footing, looking at her with wide, panicked eyes, "...What was that?"

"I didn't know you were leaning on the door", She began to smile at him, "Sorry"

He straightened up, puffing out his broad chest, "You don't look sorry"

"Get in here", She tipped her head towards the counter, "It's not done yet"

Rick strolled in, eyes zeroing in on the test, "I don't remember them taking this long?"

She closed the door with a huff, "It does feel like it's taking a little longer"

He picked it up and squinted at the little screen, "I guess this is the fun part. Waiting."

Michonne watched him closely, noting the new little signs of age on her husband; his beard was almost completely silver, though his hair on his head refused to give in. The crow's feet that kissed the corners of his eyes. It made her heart warm.

"I'm not old"

She frowned at the side of his face, "I wasn't thinking that"

"Then what were you thinking?", He turned his head towards her, eyebrow raised with the question.

She pursed her lips at him, "I was thinking that we need to grocers later-"

"That's a lie"

She pushed away from the door and took the few steps over to him, reaching for the test, "Let me see"

He held it away from her, "Tell me what you were thinking about first"

"I told you", She insisted, "I was thinking about-"

"Your eyebrows move around a lot more when you're hiding the truth from me"

Michonne couldn't catch the chuckle that burst from her lips in time, "That's not true!"

"They're dancing right now", He teased, still holding the test up in the air, "So are you gonna' tell me?"

She sighed as she shook her head, placing her hands on either side of his jaw, "I was thinking about how lucky I am to have such a handsome-'

His cheeks flamed, "I think I preferred when you were lying to me"

Michonne couldn't understand how her husband still couldn't take a compliment after so many years together, "You are, old man"

He groaned as he lowered the test to look at it, "Let's just see what this says…"

Her eyes darted away from his face as she released him, desperate to see the result herself, "Its-"

"Negative, right?", He looked to her for reassurance.

"It is", She nodded, feeling overwhelmed with relief.

"Negative", Rick repeated, his eyes rolling back as he sighed, "Thank God"

Michonne took it from him and began staring at the screen intensely, "I've never seen a negative result before"

"Which is why we need to be careful", Her husband stressed, "I can't even stand next to you for too long without you falling pregnant"

Michonne snapped her eyes shut as she laughed at his joke, "I think we need to start looking at some more permanent kinds of birth control, Rick"

Her husband's eyes widened, either out of shock or fear, or both, "You mean…"

"Yes. We need to tie things up down there, we've got enough children, in fact it's time we started getting ready for the prospect of having grandchildren-"

"Could you imagine if they all had two kids each when they got older? That's twelve grandchildren, Michonne- it would be like a busy bar around here at Christmas"

She grinned at him, "Won't that be great?"

"It would be expensive"

"You would make the sexiest, most desirable grandfather", She purred, setting the pregnancy test down so she could place her palms on his jaw again, "And I can't wait to sit on your lap when you're dressed up as Santa"

His stunning blue eyes glowed as he took her by the waist over the large t-shirt she wore for bed, "You could sit on my lap now?"

"So we can do this whole thing all over again in a few weeks?", She tilted her head to the side as she frowned at him.

"We'll be extra careful- we have to be, until we figure somethan' out... ", He appeared hesitant all of a sudden, taking his time with the last few words, "But maybe we can hold off on the permanent stuff for a while?"

Michonne stilled as she blinked at him, "Rick…"

"What if we change our mind in a year's time?", He quickly added, "That's what happened last time? _And_ the time before that- how many times have we said we had enough kids? Then we blink and you're pregnant-"

"I'll be thirty-nine next year and we agreed that we wouldn't have any more after forty", She reminded lightly, "Didn't we agree on that?"

"You're not forty, yet", He countered, "So how about we don't get anythan' permanent until you are? After that, we can both hold hands and skip to the nurse's office together-"

"Very funny."

"I like making babies with you... Not right now of course because we just made one, but still, I like everythan' that comes after. When you have to keep pulling your shirt down every five minutes because you're showing… playing the guessing game of what it'll be, picking out names, then getting to meet this little person at the end of it", His eyes were at their brightest as he spoke, "I love how big our family is, and I love coming home to a full house and I think I'd like us to go through all of that one more time before we do close up shop"

Michonne beamed at her husband throughout his speech, unable to hide the fact that she could easily see herself going through the cycle one more.

"One more? Can we?", His eyes darted up and down her face in anticipation for her answer.

She happily sighed, "One more, but not now-"

Before she could even finished her sentence, Rick had swept her off her feet in his arms, "One more, but not now"

Michonne clung to his shoulders as he hugged her against him, "I need to get that in writing"

"I'd sign it in a flash", He tilted his head back to see her face, "You're happy with this?"

"Of course", She nodded, threading her fingers through the curls at his nape.

"You'd tell me if you change your mind about this-"

"I wouldn't let you anywhere near me. I'd have on a chastity belt with every kind of lock."

He roared with laughter, "I don't think that would last long"

Her core stirred, "Oh, is that so?"

Rick grinned back at her as he spun around and sat her on the countertop, "It is"

His hands slid up her thighs and under her t-shirt, leading her to giggle as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy these little late night rendezvous we have?"

"I think you mentioned somethan' like that the last time", His tone deepened as both index fingers hooked on to the top of the dainty underwear she wore, "And I think you said that this time I got to have you any way I want..."

Nothing excited Michonne more than sneaking away with her husband in the dead of the night while their children slept. Their marital bed had inadvertently became the family bed and was often shared with several others, and they were never lucky enough to have their home all to themselves, so the bathroom counter would have to do.

He kissed her with urgency and she reciprocated that need, only breaking away from to pull her shirt over her head. She sat naked before him while he covered himself with the condom he had retrieved from their secret hiding place in the cabinet.

"How long do you think we have?", She narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to remember what time she saw on the alarm clock beside their bed.

Rick stilled for a moment, "When did you last feed her?"

"Two hours ago?", She cringed, "Maybe even three?"

He took hold of her calves and pulled her to the edge, "So we really don't have any time left at all"

She snickered as she sat her hands at the base of his neck, her thumbs brushing the coarse hair on his jaw, "Not really"

He caught her lips with his once again while he snaked his hands behind her knees, spreading her legs for him. He whispered into her mouth, "No hands"

Michonne's brows almost knitted together from confusion, until she felt his warm tip at her entrance. Luckily for him, She enjoyed the running commentary he offered throughout their love making. He pecked little kisses down to her chin and along her jaw until he stopped at her neck, and it was then that her pulse quickened, since the man knew how to make her head roll back in ecstasy with his tongue. He never just lapped at her skin, he would bite and suck at her in a way that would make her legs open even wider. She bit her lips together in hopes of remaining silent but a faint whimper still managed to escape, and it was then that he began to tease her.

Rick only gave her an inch of himself at first, then two inches, than an inch once more. It was a wicked game that they played with one another; building the other one up until they were desperate for more, but time was of the essence, so when he pushed a little more of himself within her, she tightened around him.

His eyes snapped shut as he muttered into her neck, "That's not fair"

She grinned to herself, but not for long. Rick gave her what she wanted, which was all of him, in one firm thrust. Her body shivered in response, pleased to have him invade her once again. Soon they were submerged in their sex, their bodies locked in place. His breath warmed her skin as panted, his fingers gripping at her thighs while Michonne absorbed his strokes, each one better than the last. He had always been a magnificent lover that got even better with age. He knew her body well, and he knew exactly how she liked to be taken, which is why he released one of her legs and placed it over her heat instead.

Her head snapped up when she began to play with her, his middle finger running circles around her delicate bud. She peered down between them as she hissed, "Ah, fuck!"

Rick kissed and nipped at her jaw as he picked up the pace, "You like that?"

"God, yes!", She breathed, clinging to him as best she could.

"Yeah?", His rough tone did things to her that she couldn't describe.

"Yes!", She cried, and with that he put his hand back behind her knee and lifted her off the counter with next to no effort.

"Hold on tight."

Michonne secretly despised him for the measly warning he gave before he started hammering away at her core. Every inch of him disappear inside of her then reappear with a glistening sheen. She couldn't do anything but breathe, and even that was proving difficult. He bit his bottom lip between his teeth as he watched her with hungry eyes, and Michonne knew exactly what he was waiting for.

"That's it", He rasped in harsh whisper, "I've got you now"

She gasped and held him tighter when her orgasm finally took hold of her, her forehead resting against his while her core erupted from the intense sensation. Her body radiated warmth from the top her head to the bottom of her feet and in all her fingers and toes, she felt as if she were on fire.

Rick released a guttural moan as he slowed down, unable to withstand the pulsing of her womanhood. A few deep strokes later and he was spent, his head falling back into the crook of her neck.

Michonne couldn't find the strength to open her eyes until he sat her back down on the counter, and even then she didn't let go of him.

"I need to take it out…", He began quietly, referring to his softening member, "I can't stay in there Michonne. I might blackout"

A large smile spread across her face as she pulled back to look at him, "You will not"

"I will, and then you're gonna' have to explain to the kids why daddy's passed out on the bathroom floor", He grinned, his hands caressing her back tenderly.

She moved a lock of hair that had stuck to his damp forehead, "I'd at least move you to the hall-"

The faint cry of an infant rang out nearby, causing them both to look towards the door. Michonne perked up in alert, while Rick exhaled tiredly as he withdrew himself, "I got this round, you take the next"

"Alright".


	7. Chapter 7 - A Devil's Shot - Divorce

**A/N:** The idea for this little snippit was actually brought to me by FanAgain2 a while ago for the Sympathy for the Devil stories so I hope you all enjoy!

...

A Devil's Shot:

 **The Divorce**

"So what the hell does that mean?"

Rick narrowed his eyes at his soon to be ex-wife from across the grand mahogany table, while she didn't even make any attempt to glance in his direction. She was sat up straight, one manicured hand placed over the other, dressed in a long sleeved black dress that accentuated her phenomenal figure, the kind of outfit that usually stole Rick's attention, but he was too busy trying to comprehend what she was talking about. She spoke as if butter wouldn't melt, "I want my son and my daughter to be taken care of, especially if one or both of their parents go on to expand the family with other people"

Even with her crystal clear explanation, Rick's brain still struggled to understand what his soon to be ex-wife meant, "Expand the family?"

Michonne continued to look at her lawyer as she responded, "A new spouse, possibly more children"

Rick's eyebrows sprung up, almost disappearing into his hairline before he snapped them back down, catching his reaction before it was seen by anyone else in the room.

He was well aware that they were going through a divorce, and he knew that some would say he had shouldn't be surprised at her request, but he was. He couldn't understand why such a thought was even crossing her mind, and despite the fact that she had taken to giving him the cold shoulder in recent weeks, he still proceeded to question her only seconds after they left the building once they had concluded their meeting with her lawyer, "So is that what you're thinking about? Starting a new family?"

Michonne's eyes crept across the parking lot, still refusing to look at him, "I'm thinking about Carl and Judith"

"They'll always be taken care of, no matter what", He insisted firmly, tilting his head to catch her gaze, "Can you look at me, please?"

"No.", She replied flatly, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder, "I'll be by to pick them up around five"

"Michonne", He called her name with a tired tone and he knew she had heard him, but still she started for her vehicle, so he called her again with a little more firmness, "Michonne!"

She stopped, only turning her head by an inch as she spat, "What?"

Rick couldn't help but match her attitude, "We aren't done here"

She spun around and met him with angry eyes, her locks spinning through the air as they followed her, "We are. Anything else you want to talk about can wait until we have to go back inside that building. I told you that I will be by to pick the kids up around five and that's it- that's all you and I have to talk about out here"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "So is this what we're signing up for? This how thangs are going to be from now on?"

"How is this any different to when we were married?", She frowned at him, beginning to wave a pointed finger between the two of them, "This is nothing new. This is how it's been-"

"I'm giving you what you-", Rick stopped himself when he felt his voice rise. He snapped his eyes shut, pinching his nose bridge between his thumb and index finger as he tried to call himself, "The kids will always be looked after-"

"I'm making sure of that-"

"They should always come first-"

"They will always come first-"

"If we agree on that then there shouldn't be a problem here", He used his most commanding voice as he stepped closer to her, "This shouldn't still be happening between us"

Michonne almost looked at him with disgust, "You expect us to start being nice to each other all of a sudden?"

"Civil. We should be able to be civil with each other."

Her face fell blank, confusing Rick as he wasn't sure what silenced her, but then she smirked, "We should be civil with each other? That's what you expect?"

"We're still going to be in each other's lives Michonne", He placed his hands at his sides as he stared at her, "We have to get along"

The ghost of a smile she wore smirk turned into a full blown mocking grin, "Now we have to get along? But when we were all living under the same roof you didn't want to be civil then? You didn't want to get along then? Because that's when it really mattered because the kids were always there-"

"I'm not proud of how I've acted", He stressed, "I've never said that I was-"

"No! Of course you wouldn't! Because you're Rick Grimes!", She threw one of her hands up in the air theatricality, "You can behave as badly what you want but it's okay-"

"Ma'am! Excuse me, ma'am", A tall, pale man stepped out of the Attorney's office, with his hand raised in Michonne's direction, "Can you please-"

"Hey!", Rick barked, sending the man the most sinister of glares as he turned to face him, "Don't you ask her anythan', we're talking"

The man's head jerked back as he eyed Rick with caution, "Chief? Oh uh, we can hear-"

"I don't care", Rick tipped his head towards the door, "Go back inside"

Even though Rick already had a rough idea of what Michonne was going to say to him, he still wanted to hear what she had to say and he refused to allow anyone to interrupt her. When the bystander disappeared back inside the building he turned to face her again, hoping she'd continue off where she had finished, "Like I said, I'll be by to pick up the kids-"

"That's not what you were saying", He took another step closer to her.

"I'm done yelling, Rick", She sighed, rolling her eyes while fixing her purse strap once again.

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here and I'm listening", He tried to add some softness to his tone but it wasn't easy.

She looked annoyed again as she peered at her car, muttering loud enough for him to hear, "Yeah, what use is that now?"

Rick had to take a deep, calming breath. He wasn't a stupid man by any means, and he knew exactly why he was receiving so much hostility from his wife, after all he had put her in that position previously. He took the final step closer, placing himself directly in front of her as he declared, "I'm sorry"

Michonne wore the deepest frown as she looked up at him, "Excuse me?"

"I said I'm sorry", He repeated, "For my part in this"

Her expression didn't ease, " _Why_ are you telling me this?"

"Because I need to. I don't think thangs will get any better between us if I don't"

"They won't.", She turned back to her vehicle, "I don't think they will for a long time"

He continued to stare at the side of her face, feeling it necessary to ask, "Are you sorry?"

She was angry again; her fists balling up at her sides, "I've always apologised for everything that I did-"

"I'm just asking you a question", He stated firmly, growing tired of the immediate highs and lows of their conversation, "I'm not trying to make you mad"

Her shoulders rolled back as if she were preparing to yell at him again, and Rick was prepared for it if she did, but she seemed to change her mind at the very last second and chose to roll her eyes for a countless time that afternoon as she started towards her car, "Five o'clock"

Rick let out a frustrated huff as he watched her walk away from him, "Do you accept it? My apology?"

"I'll let you know If I do", She replied, not looking back at him.

He eyed her back, knowing she wouldn't let him know anything at all. She was closed book to him now, refusing to show him anything else but anger and frustration. That didn't stop him from calling out once more, "That's a nice dress"

"Goodbye, Grimes."


	8. Chapter 8 - A Devil's Shot - Gone By

A Devil One Shot:

 **Years Gone By**

"Dad, we're going to be late! Can you tell mama to hurry, please? Give Genie to me, I need to put her in the car"

Rick wasn't ready to part with the sleeping infant in his arms just yet, too busy adoring her delicate features and brown hair that was swept to the side. Her tiny lips pressed together and her nose wrinkled as she nestled in closer to him, leading Rick to melt, "I just got her to sleep"

Judith released a tired groan, her big blue eyes narrowing to two little slits, "Dad, we have to get to the airport, we're already running late because _somebody_ didn't pack"

"I did pack", Andre argued, pulling a suitcase and a duffle bag down the stairs, "I just didn't fold anything"

Rick was only meant to glance at his youngest son, but ended up doing a double take, "I thought you were meant to be getting a haircut?"

Andre dropped his things down on the floor with a huff, then stood to his full length, his dark brown mop of loose curls covering the top half of his face. The teenager shrugged, "I did"

Rick frowned at him, "No you didn't, I still can't see you"

"I took an inch off", Andre pulled his hair back to expose a warm set of brown eyes, identical to his mother's, "Now you can see me"

"Yeah, when you lift the curtain", Rick sighed, about to question his son further when Judith began to remove the infant from his arms, "Why are you disturbing my granddaughter? She's sleeping"

"Daddy, get up", Judith bit out quietly as she cradled her daughter, "You have to get mama"

"She was like… sobbing?", Andre informed with a confused tone, "I asked her what's wrong and she said something about ' _No more jeans_ '..."

"Ah, she's probably just checking her outfit for the hundredth time", He muttered, pulling himself up from the recliner with a little groan, "I'm getting too old for this- why couldn't y'all just go on vacation without your mother and I? We could use a break too, you know?"

Andre rolled his eyes as he picked up his duffle bag, while Judith ignored his remark entirely, "I told Sam to call Carl to see where he is"

Rick pictured his oldest son at home in his apartment, doing his best to his twin boys dressed and ready to leave, and it made him snicker, "Why is your husband still hiding from me?"

Judith peered at her father from over her shoulder, "Because you're not very welcoming to him. In fact you're very, very mean to him"

Rick shrugged as he remembered the last time he came face to face with Sam. He didn't think advising his son in-law to hold his granddaughter correctly could be classified as mean, "I don't think that's the case"

"You threaten him, like, every two weeks dad", Andre gave his father the most incredulous look as he flicked his hair from his face.

Rick shrugged once again as he placed a foot on the bottom step of the stairs, "I don't think that's the case either"

The Grimes bi-annual vacation was something Rick initially looked forward to, as he thought it meant his children would go away without him and his wife, but he was grossly mistaken. He had tried everything he could to have some alone time with his wife, but it seemed he couldn't turn around without running into a child or a grandchild.

He made it up the stairs with more effort than he would like to admit and crossed the landing to the marital bedroom, expecting to find his wife ready to leave but instead he found her far from it.

"What the hell, Michonne?", He stopped at the doorway and furrowed his brow, "What are you doing?"

His wife face down on the queen-sized bed wearing only a bra, and what looked like a long pair of shorts that came up to her stomach and down to her knee. She made a sobbing sound, her dreadlocks sprawled out around her head, "I look terrible"

"What are you wearing?", Rick squinted at the strange, black garment, "You can't wear just that out?"

"They're spanx, Rick", She huffed, flipping onto her back, "They hold everything in"

"Hold _what_ in?", He leaned forward and hooked a finger under one of the leg bands, "What the- you can't even breath in that! Take it off!"

"No!", She swatted him away, "I need it to hold in my stomach and lift my butt!"

He stared at her, completely dumbfounded, "What?"

"You heard me!", She hissed, almost sitting up but she fell back again, "My butt is… and my stomach is… everything is just _falling_ , Rick"

He looked at her with nothing but disbelief, "What are you talking about? You look perfect- take that thang off Michonne, you're gonna' turn blue in a minute"

"No. I need it", She moaned, staring up at the ceiling, "This is when you trade me in for a younger model"

Rick threw his head back as he groaned and ran his hands over his face, "I hate it when you do this"

"One that doesn't have a butt that jiggles as much as mine"

His head snapped back down as he spoke in a serious tone, "That's my favourite part about you"

Her lips pursed as she tried not to laugh, "Stop it"

Rick sighed as he kneeled on the bed, and placed himself between her legs, about to lean over her when he stopped, "How do you get these off?"

"I made a deal with the devil", She issued dryly.

"How does that work? You just look in the mirror and talk to yourself?", His wife's laughter bounced off the walls, leading Rick to smile as he leaned over her, "Everythan' about you still drives me wild, you know that right?"

Her big brown eyes glowed up at him, "I don't feel that way right now"

"You should", His gaze followed the curves of her nose and full lips, down to her chin and out to her long black dreads that spewed out on the sheets beneath her, "You're perfect. Always have been and always will be"

She flashed him his favourite smile of hers, the one that always made his knees weak, "...My butt can't fit in my favourite jeans anymore"

"I hate it when you wear pants anyway", He snickered, "They just get in the way"

She giggled at him as she reached up and placed her palm on his cheek, "Not everyone can age as beautifully as you have. You get even more handsome with each passing day while I look-"

"While you look like you haven't aged at all. Exactly the same as the first time I ever laid eyes on you… some things are a little... fuller than they were back then but I struggle to see what that's a bad thang"

Despite his words, He could see that his wife was still struggling to believe his message, which is probably why she asked the unthinkable, "Have you liked being married to me?"

His expression darkened in a matter of seconds, "What kind of question is that Michonne?"

"Tell me? Have you?"

"I can't believe you even have to ask-"

"Don't get upset", She spoke softly as her thumb stroked his cheek, "Tell me, please?"

Rick blew out a breath as he shook his head, "I've love being in anythan' with you. In love, in marriage, in the same car, in the same home, in the same room, in the same bed- all of it"

"What about the bad parts?", She probed, "We've had bad parts, Rick"

He tensed, "We have, you've left me quite a few times but we-"

"I left you _once_ ", Her hand fell from his face as her mood changed, "Only once"

"Before we got married the first time you left with Carl"

"That was for a month and we still saw each other, I just stayed somewhere else-"

"After Carl moved out you wanted to leave me again-"

"I wasn't coping well", She explained between gritted teeth, "So that was different. And besides, you haven't always wanted to be with me, too"

He clenched his jaw as he bowed his head, "But I haven't gone anywhere. You'd have to leave me because I'd never leave you"

Her expression immediately softened, "I've never gotten far though, have I?"

He slowly inhaled, "No. You haven't"

"If I could change anything about the last twenty-eight years then it would be the few years that we were divorced", She insisted, her hand returning to its previous place in his cheek, "All the times I've hurt you…"

"We haven't always been nice to each other", He clarified as he locked eyes with her again, "And I'll always be ashamed of a lot of the thangs that I've said and done. I'll never stop telling you how sorry I am"

"Me, too. I'll always be sorry", She traced her fingers over his beard and along his jawline, "But I wouldn't change anything else. You've always been my everything, and I can't wait to ask you that question again in another twenty-eight years"

He felt his heart warm with delight, "I'd be eighty years old, I might not hear you"

"You'd hear me alright", She warned, narrowing her eyes at him, "If you know what's good for you"

"Oh, I know exactly what's good for me", He bit his lip as he tried to stifle a chuckle, "All this because of a pair of… spanx?"

She shifted uncomfortably beneath him, "Yeah, but can you help me out of these, please? I'm ready to breathe again"

"With pleasure, where are the scissors?"

She chuckled as he sat back on his calves and hooked his fingers between the right fitting material and her skin, "Just pull them down"

Rick yanked the garment down to her ample ass and over her thighs, where she bent her legs so that he could pull them right off. When his wife was free he dived between her legs again, "Much better"

"I couldn't agree more", She exhaled, her eyes rolling back as she was no longer constricted in the tight material, "I'm never doing that again"

"Good", He gave her a crooked smile, "I like what's happening back there… especially when _I am_ back there-"

"Mama! Daddy! **WE NEED TO GO**!", Judith roared from the bottom of the stairs, "You always do this every year! We only have three hours left to get to the airport and then we have to steal a cart to race to a gate and daddy ends up punching someone- it's not fair!"

Michonne's eyes widened as she placed her hand on Rick's bicep, "Shoot! What time is it?"

"Time for them to leave us alone", He mumbled to himself as his bowed a second time, "I don't understand why they can't just go without us-"

"Rick.", She issued sternly, "Come on, let's go"

He pouted at her, "Tell me you love me and I'll get up"

"I love you", She declared sincerely, using one of her hands to comb his hair back, "Now we have to- What the- Rick, you can't be serious right now? We need to leave!"

He grinned down at her as he pressed his hardened self against her crotch, "Told you I'd get up"

An evil cackled escaped his wife as she swatted at him, "Stop that Mr Grimes! Judith is going to give herself a heart attack so let's go!"

"Fine", He leaned down and gave her a sweet little peck on her lips, "I love you, too".


	9. Chapter 9 - Betsy's B&B

**A/N** : This idea for this one shot was actually given to me by the love of my life some time ago. I've taken the Richonne couple from Girls with Brown Eyes and given them an adventure (So it would help if you had read that fic but I don't think it's completely necessary). It's just a fun little one-shot… with a little hint towards what I plan to do with this family in the future. _**Also**_ I have a big break coming up which allow me to write some more since I've been dying too. Usually by the time I do finally get some free time at the end of the day I'm so freaking tired - but please believe me when I say I'm itching to update Girls with Brown Eyes, Wildflowers, Before the Reign and After Hours.

Hope you enjoy!

 **Betsy's Bed & Breakfast**

"Rick, please! It's raining, the boys are tired and you're completely soaked! Can you please just stop this?"

Rick could barely hear Michonne over the torrential rain that pounded on his back as he inspected the front of his truck. He squinted at her and shook his head, "I'm gonna' figure this out! Get back inside!"

"No!", She yelled, stamping her foot in her zebra striped wellington boots. She outstretched her hand from within the oversized raincoat she wore and pointed to a building that sat at the top of a small hill, "We are going in there, Rick!"

He looked at the old Victorian home and internally recoiled. It had a sign that read 'Betsy's Bed & Breakfast' hanging by a slim chain over the porch steps. The wooden slabs on the exterior looked as if they would fall off at any moment, and a dim light shone from a light behind the huge front door. Just the sight of it made Rick shudder. He continued to inspect his truck's engine, "Its fine! I'll get this working!"

"I'm taking the boys inside!", She announced harshly as she turned on her heel.

Rick inhaled deeply as he watched her walk away, wishing she wasn't so headstrong for just a moment. When he heard the car door open he slammed to hood down to see Carl and Andre staring at him through the windshield, while Michonne began unfastening Andre's car seat.

"Wait- wait!", He pleaded when he walked around to the passenger door, "Just hold on a second-"

"It's almost ten, Rick! We need somewhere to sleep for the night!", She argued, swinging around to face him, "We're obviously stuck here-"

"We're _not_ stuck-"

"Well I'm tired!", She somewhat growled, "And I want them both in a bed tonight"

Rick turned away from her as his hissed a string of curse words under his breath, then presented himself as a calm, rational person, "Fine. We'll go and check it out"

Michonne spun back around and continued to free her son from his car seat, while Rick whispered a long prayer to himself.

When they initially decided to drive from Atlanta to Nashville to visit his deceased mother's family, Rick thought it would be a simple trip. He was sure he knew the way and he expected them to be there within a couple of hours, but that was far from the case. A series of events had slowed them down, from Andre throwing up on himself, to Rick having to make multiple stops to allow someone to use the bathroom, so when his truck began to smoke in the middle of the highway he was at the end of his tether.

It didn't help that he took a turn into a deserted lane beside a dilapidated bed and breakfast that looked like something out of a horror movie. He didn't consider himself a man that was easily frightened but everything about their current situation made Rick want to get back in his smoking truck and drive back home to Atlanta.

Sadly for him, he and Michonne weren't seeing eye to eye that day, or in recent days, and so when she told him she was tired he had to accept that they were going to stay in the dilapidated bed and breakfast.

He carried their bags up the porch steps and ducked to avoid a head injury from the swinging sign, while Carl trudged along behind him and Michonne carried the sleepy toddler. Once in front of the door he stepped aside so Michonne could knock or ring the dirty doorbell, but they were all left amaze to see the tall front door swing open and reveal a tiny, silver haired man that wore a smart but dated pin striped suit.

"Well, come on in!", He greeted with a wide, toothless grin, his wrinkly hand raised, "It's raining cats an' dogs out there!"

Rick released a low groan that was masked by the heavy rain, while Carl easily walked inside with Michonne right behind him, "We just need a room for the night"

"And I can give you one! Come on, let's get y'all right inside…"

Rick followed his family reluctantly and forced himself to give the small man a fake smile, "Thanks."

The ceilings were high and the walls were covered with black and white, floral wallpaper that had seen better days. The same could be said for the furniture. Everything appeared to be covered in a thin layer of dust, including the little old man, who quickly hobbled towards the front desk by a wooden staircase, "My name is Bernie, and I'll be your host for your stay. Anythan' you need, you can just check in with me and I'll do my best to help"

"Thank you, we just need a room…", Michonne began politely but grew distracted by a distressed Andre, who was fighting to get away from her, "Uh, sorry- he's tired-"

Rick took over, "Just a room. That's it"

"Oh that's fine, I can give you a room with two beds?", Bernie offered, reaching behind him towards a wall of key, "It'll be eighty-five for the four of you. Ninety for breakfast"

"We don't need breakfast", Rick ejected flatly, "Just the room is fine"

Bernie froze, his green eyes almost bulging out of his head as he spoke in a whiny little voice, "Oh that's a shame, mother makes the best pancakes around. She'd hate to hear that you don't want any?"

Rick stared at the man, "Well, tell your mother that I apologise but-"

"We can do breakfast", Michonne insisted with a smile, though Andre was beginning to wail as he flailed his limbs, "Thanks!"

Rick huffed as he tilted his head to catch the toddler's attention, "Hey there, buddy? What's wrong?"

"I don' like it!", Andre cried, his big brown eyes glistening with tears beneath his curly afro.

"Neither do I", Rick whispered back as he leaned closer to him, causing Carl to snicker as he watched the exchange.

"Okay so I just need your details, and then I'll show you to your room", Bernie informed cheerfully as he held out a pen for one of them to take, inadvertently drawing Rick's attention to the red, angry looking marks on his wrists. He narrowed his eyes at the man, who kept waving the pen around while he smiled at the family eagerly.

Once Rick had completed their registration and paid for their night's stay, they were taken up to the second floor of the old home, which was even more unappealing than the foyer.

"Mrs Harriet will be glad to have some company, won't you Mrs Harriet!", Bernie chuckled, knocking on one of the doors that he passed as he led the across the landing. Only a second later did Mrs Harriet's room door crack open, causing Rick to slow down when he noticed a set of white eyes looking at from within the darkness. His mouth hung agape as he tried to work out who, or what, was staring at him but before he could make a peep the door slammed closed, all while Bernie continued drone on, "She usually stays with us for a few days a month. Her husband passed away some time ago... so she gets lonely"

"Mommy I don' like it", Andre repeated once again as he buried his face in his mother's neck.

"And here we are!", Bernie gave Andre a sympathetic look as he approached the last door on, "Now I hope you'll stop all that fussin', mother loves babies and she can't take you if you cry too much"

Michonne frowned at the small man, while Andre's face crumbled as he wailed once again, "Dad! Dad!"

"I'm coming", Rick walked a little faster to catch up to them, though he eyed each and every door he passed along the way, "Uh, is anybody else staying here tonight?"

"Oh, just two others, a young couple like yourselves but they might as well be dead", Bernie chuckled, "They haven't left their room since they got here"

The man's joke was lost on the family, and it was really just another thing for Rick to complain about to Michonne, but he had to bite his tongue while Bernie showed them around their room.

It was a decent size for the four of them, but still just as dated and dusty as the rest of the establishment. Rick didn't even want to sit down, so he stood in one spot until Bernie finally left them alone, and after hearing the footsteps disappear down the hall, he swiftly locked the door.

Carl threw himself on one of the beds with his headphones in and began tapping away at his phone, while Michonne sat Andre on the opposite bed to remove his clothes but the toddler made a dash for the door and rattled the handle with urgency, "Dad! Open It!"

Rick looked down at him with regret, "I _really_ wish I could, but I have to talk to mommy first"

"No! I don' like it!", Andre argued, standing on his toes as he tried to reach the locks. The adorable scene immediately made Rick laugh, so he scooped Andre up in his arms with deep sigh.

"I know you don't like it, and I'm sorry. I tried to get us out of this but we have to listen to mommy or else we'll get in trouble", He huffed, rubbing the toddler's back tenderly.

"Great", Michonne rolled her eyes as she stepped out of her wellingtons, "I've got two of you to deal with"

"Why don't we play a game?... How about 'Where's the baby?'- Will that cheer you up?", Rick whispered playfully to Andre, "If you find the baby then I'll give you that piece of candy we found in your hair earlier?"

Michonne made a sound from the other side of the room that signalled her disgust, while Andre looked at Rick with nothing but contempt, "I... Don'... Like it!"

"Just one game?", Rick pouted at him, "For me?"

The toddler growled and huffed as if he were weighing up his options, and finally offered Rick a weak, "Okay"

"Alright then", He leaned forward and place Andre on the old, brown carpet and watched him run over to his mother just as she pulled her raincoat off.

Andre placed a chubby hand on his mother's rounded stomach and announced, "Here's the baby!"

"You found her!", Rick grinned, fishing out a tiny pack of jelly beans from his jean pocket that he had bought for him earlier, "Let mommy take your jacket off and then you can have these"

Michonne took a seat on the bed with a tired huff as she held her hands out for Andre to come to her, "Come on, Rocket"

Rick eyed the room suspiciously as he walked over to the bed that Carl had sprawled across and took a seat directly in front of her as he lowered his voice, "We need to get the hell out of here"

"I'm tired, Rick", She reminded dryly while unbuttoning Andre's coat.

"I know you are but when I tell you what I just saw out there, you won't want to stay here either-"

"Yeah?", Carl pulled his headphones from his ears and looked at his father, "What is it?"

Rick peered back at his son a confused frown, "What?"

"You called me?"

"No... I didn't?"

Carl looked from his father to Michonne, who shook her head at the pre-teen, "He didn't"

Carl shrugged and put his headphone back in his ear, "Alright"

Rick squinted at Michonne as he used his thumb to point at Carl, "Usually I wouldn't think that was strange because his hearing is questionable anyway, but here? _Right now_?"

She sighed as she put Andre on her lap and began pulling off his boots, "It's an old place, it doesn't look that appealing and I can understand why you're scared, but I'm so tired-"

"I'm not scared", He corrected firmly, sitting up straighter, "I would just prefer to sleep somewhere else. Anywhere else."

"I'm tired, Rick", She repeated a third time, giving him a no nonsense look, "We have to be up early anyway, the truck still needs to be fixed to we'll have to get someone out here and God knows how long that will take... It's just a chance for all of us to get some much needed rest"

He exhaled through his nose as he looked around the old room. He did want his family to get some rest, especially Michonne as she was growing restless and more irritable with each passing month. This pregnancy was proving to be the opposite of the delight she had experienced with Andre, so Rick wanted to do everything he could to ease her discomfort, "Fine... But I'm not sleeping. I think one of us should be awake at least"

"Why? In case Mrs Harriet comes down the hall looking for you?", She snickered, laying Andre's coat at the foot of the bed.

Rick's head whipped back to look at her, "That's not funny, Michonne"

An evil grin flashed across her face as she shook her head, averting her attention to his son, "Hey, Carl!"

The teen's pupils slid over to her, and he pulled one of his headphones away from his ear once again, "Yeah?"

"Who do you want to share a bed with?"

Carl looked from Andre, to Rick, then back to Michonne, "I think I'll take Andre. He doesn't take up too much space"

"Fine, you got it… But you can't trade him in when he starts to move around though"

"No fair!", He chuckled, sitting up in his spot on the bed, "I can't take dad because he snores"

"You can bet that I won't be snoring tonight", Rick muttered as he stood up, "Carl, send your mother a message to let her know what's happening"

"I can't, there's no signal"

Rick's eyes rolled shut and pinched his nose bridge while he spoke in a breathy tone, "Of course there's no signal. Why would there be signal in a place like this?"

"They probably have a phone down at the front desk", Michonne suggested, tipping her head towards the bedroom door, "Come on, I'll take you down to use it"

"Alright", Carl agreed, scooting to the edge of the bed.

"It's fine", Rick held up his hand to stop them, "We can call her tomorrow or somethan'..."

His girlfriend stood with Andre in her arms, who she then held out to him, "Can you put him to sleep please? I want to see if they have snacks here anyway, so we might as well go down there"

Andre held out his arms for Rick to take him and so he did, but not without argument, "At least take my... 'You know what'..."

Michonne eyes widened, knowing he was referring to his Colt Python, "What for? Bernie? The ninety year old? Or Mrs Harriet? Who's probably fast asleep?"

"She's not.", He retorted seriously, "I'm certain that she's not"

"We'll be right back", She spun on her heel, her dreadlocks flowing through the air as they followed her, "Can you just relax? I'll see if they serve Scotch here for you"

Rick watched helplessly as she strolled towards the door with Carl in tow, wondering if his dislike of creepy old homes was obscuring his rational train of thought, until he heard Andre mutter, "I wanna' go home"

He bounced the toddler in his arms as he whispered back, "Me too, Buddy"

"...My candy?"

"I haven't forgotten about your candy", Rick reluctantly smirked as he looked at the boy, "I'll let you have some before bed but we'll keep that to ourselves"

Once he had located the toddler's suitcase and found a set of pyjamas for him, Rick stood him on the bed and changed his clothes while Andre enjoyed a small handful of jelly beans. Rick was only able to relax in that moment because he genuinely revelled in the time he spent with the young boy. Having witnessed a change in Carl's attitude towards him in recent months, Rick was glad to have a younger child around who took as much interest in him as he did Andre, while Carl only took interest in the contents of his cell phone. It was a purchase that Rick regretted almost immediately.

He hoped that by the time his daughter arrived, his son would take some interest in his family again, and he hoped that Andre would be willing to share some of the limelight with their new addition. Rick could hardly wait. When Marie had somehow worked out that her daughter was pregnant when they were out for dinner for his birthday, he couldn't believe it. He didn't think it was possible to tell that a woman was pregnant just because of her aversion to a certain food, but Marie was certain and the look on Michonne's face confirmed it. It was a joy filled moment for them all, and Rick had been floating on cloud nine ever since, virtually unable to keep away from her growing stomach.

After giving the sheets and pillows a good shake in the air to freshen them up, Rick tucked Andre in the bed and began his inspection of the room. He wasn't looking for anything in particular but he knew there was little chance of him falling asleep without checking his surroundings.

From the moment he stepped foot inside the bed and breakfast, his nostrils were invaded by a thick, musky scent that only seemed to disperse when they entered their room, but as he looked in all the draws and closets the smell returned, forcing him to crack open one of the large windows on the other side of the room. He almost shuddered with delight to smell the rain and it was while he was stood there, relishing in the feeling of the cool air on his skin, that he heard a pair of heavy footsteps coming from behind him, forcing him to spin around with wide eyes that darted back and forth wildly.

The room was undisturbed, the door was still closed and Andre was fast asleep in bed. Rick marched over to the bag he shared with Michonne and rummaged through it until he found his Colt Python, which he swiftly tucked in the waistband of his jeans. He couldn't sit down, nor could his eyes focus on any one thing. He was certain he heard footsteps behind him and it made him feel uneasy, and when he felt uneasy - he paced.

Back and forth he walked, wishing Michonne and Carl would return soon, until he realised he needed the bathroom, which was directly in front of the two beds but Rick didn't feel comfortable taking his eyes off Andre, so he left the door open while he went to relieve himself.

The bathroom was just as underwhelming as the room, and just as old. Rick imagined that the tiles were once white and un-cracked, and the bathtub had probably been clean at some stage in the last century, but he doubted that Bernie could even see properly, let alone tend to the domestic duties.

He made a mental note to warn Michonne and Carl about the state of the room as he washed his hands and dried them on his jeans, since there was no towel in sight. His gaze immediately fell back to the bed where he had left Andre sleeping when re-entered the room, and the fear he felt upon seeing the sheets pulled back and the toddler gone, almost crippled him.

"Andre?!", He called our frantically, moving deeper into the room as he looked around in a blind panic, "Andre?!"

The room was still undisturbed and the door was still closed, but now Rick was alone. He crouched down and checked under each bed, then the closet, and even the bathroom he had just exited moments before, and he was just about to run out of the room when he remembered the open window. His blood ran cold as he bolted over to it and looked outside; it was still raining, and dark, but the lights from the building shone on the lawn below and Rick couldn't see anything at all.

He slammed the window shut and pulled his Colt free, ready to go on a rampage as he stomped towards the door, but a little, breathy cough caught his attention. He looked back towards the bed, the same bed that was vacant only seconds ago, to see Andre sound asleep again. Rick took a small step back in shock. He blinked hard and rubbed at his eyes furiously with his fingers, questioning if he had really just gone through the fright of his life or if the toddler had been there the whole time.

Fear drove him to pick up the sleeping boy up and hold him in his arms as he sat against the headboard, his heart still thumping wildly.

When Andre nuzzled against his chest Rick knew he was fine, and completely unaware of the strange things that were happening around them, so he blew out a tired breath and rolled his head back, now desperate for Michonne and Carl to return.

That was when he saw them. The same set of white eyes that were peering at him from within the darkness of Mrs Harriet's room were now watching him from between the slits of the old air vent in the ceiling. He could see nothing else, just two white eyes with a slight glow, and anything else that would reveal to him whether it was a man, woman or if it was even human at all. Just eyes, staring, no skin around the sockets to subject it had the capability to blink.

Rick slowly removed one of his hands from Andre's back and placed it on his gun that he had put beside him as he rasped in a low, dangerous tone, "I don't know what's going on here, but if you pull a stunt like that again and I will climb up there and-"

The door burst open as Carl and Michonne reappeared, chuckling heartily as they each carried a silver tray in the hands. Rick didn't take his attention off the vent until he saw the eyes vanish.

"I spoke to mom", Carl said to his father as he shut the door with his foot, "She's okay"

"I hope you're hungry", Michonne chimed as she sat the tray down on the opposite bed. It held four little plates with finger sandwiches, cookies, cakes and brownies on each one. She sat down beside it and held out a cookie to him, "Here"

Rick sniffed as he shook his head, "Nah, you eat"

"You haven't eaten anything", She urged, "Put Andre down and-"

"I'm not putting him down", Rick issued with a hint of firmness in his tone.

She stilled, and her expression grew serious, "What happened?"

"Yeah Dad?", Carl added, taking a seat on the same bed as Michonne after setting down the tray that held the beverages on the dresser.

"I don't know", Rick almost laughed with disbelief as he glanced back at the air vent, "Either I'm losing my mind or someone's toying with me"

Michonne snuck a peak in Carl's direction, obviously not wishing for him to witness his father question his sanity, "Okay well, eat up Carl, we have to be up early tomorrow…"

The pre-teen didn't need to be told twice, as he had already began to pick up a sandwich and shove it in his mouth.

"And how about you get some sleep…", She suggested to Rick gently, her eyes on the gun he held.

He had no intention of closing his eyes unless he had to blink, "I'm fine. You guys eat then get some rest."

Rick could tell Michonne wanted to speak with him further, just not in front of Carl, so she had no choice but to do what he said until they got a moment alone.

He continued to stay vigilant, and occasionally checked the air vent he was sat under, while the other two members of his family talked and ate the night away.

"I saw this really cool board online - it had glow in the dark wheels and everything", Carl explained excitedly, "I can't wait for my old one to break so I can get it"

"What's wrong with the skateboard you have now?", Michonne quizzed, raising an eyebrow at him as she brought a white cup up to her lips.

Carl shrugged lazily, "Its getting old"

"But that's what gives it character. I still have my first board, even though I haven't used it in years. It's special to me like I'm sure yours is to you", She insisted sincerely as she lowered the cup.

"Well, yeah, I guess you're right… but-", Carl stopped and looked down at his jeans as his cell phone began to ring, "Huh?"

"Oh, you do have signal", Michonne commented as she stood up, "It's probably just the weather interfering with the service here"

"Where are you going?", Rick questioned, his eyes following her back as she stepped away from the beds.

"To the bathroom", She replied with a yawn, running her fingers through her dreads.

He glanced up at the air vent for a countless time, "It's worse in there than it is in here"

"I just want to freshen up"

"Well just don't lock the door", Rick instructed, leading Michonne to look back at him curiously. He only repeated himself, "You don't need to lock it"

She pursed her lips as she entered the bathroom, and Rick assumed she was planning to ask him for her his reasons later. He turned his attention to Carl, who appeared to be on the phone to his mother as he spoke cheerfully, "Yeah, I ate… Sandwiches? And uh, brownies… Cookies… Yeah... Okay, hold on- Dad? Mom wants to talk to you"

Rick had to suppress a groan. He already knew what Lori was going to say, but for the sake of their son he had to behave as amicably as possible, so he signalled for Carl to Take Andre, "Put him beside you and sit with him"

"Alright", Carl huffed, handing him the phone before taking Andre from his chest.

"Yeah?", Rick held the phone to his ear and spoke with a more relaxed tone, "What's going on?"

"Look at the time, Rick", Lori complained, "He shouldn't be eating-"

"We ran into some trouble with the truck and it's taking us a little longer than it would to get there, so we had to stop off somewhere for the night", He explained tiredly, "We'll all be getting some rest soon"

Having nipped her argument in the bud, all his ex-wife could do is sigh, "Well I don't want him-"

"I know", He ejected flatly.

"And can you at least have him call me when there's a change of plan? I just want to know that he's alright and everything's fine"

Rick's light brows began to furrow, "He did? He said he did? Earlier?"

"Carl said he called me earlier?"

"Yeah?", He looked at his son strangely as switched the phone from one ear to the other, "Like an hour ago?"

"Well that's not true, I haven't heard from him since this morning- and what's going on over there? Is someone else there with you?"

"No?"

"I can hear someone else talking", Lori explained, "...Must be the line crossing over. I'll give Carl a call in the morning"

Rick instinctively peered up at the air vent again, as if all the answers to everything strange were hidden in the ceiling, "Uh, yeah. I'll remind him to call"

"Thanks. Well goodnight"

"Bye.", He hung up the phone and looked at Carl with narrowed eyes, "You used the phone downstairs, right?"

Carl didn't bother to look up from the plate he had rested on his lap, "Yeah. It was pretty cool too, one of those really old phones that you have to spin with your finger"

Rick wanted to question his son further, but he also didn't want to scare him, so he spoke softly as he asked, "What do you think about this place?"

Carl shrugged as he took the last cookie off the plate, "It's weird"

"What makes you think that?"

His son rolled his eyes in disbelief as he looked at Rick, "You're kidding, right?"

Rick blew a sigh of relief as he stood up to stretch his legs, and hand Carl back his cell phone, "I'm glad I'm not the only one… Get some rest, it's almost midnight"

Every nerve in Rick's body buzzed, forcing him to stay awake in spite of the fact that he was also in need of rest, but fear of the unknown kept him on his toes. He wanted to speak to Michonne about it, away from Carl, so he made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

A few silent moments passed, and he knocked again, this time calling her name quietly, "Michonne?"

When he didn't get a response the second time he opened the door, grateful that she had listened to him and left it unlocked.

"What's the matter?", She asked softly, her back to him as she stood by the sink washing her hands.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?", He frowned at the back of her head, taking a step into the room.

"No.", She replied, her dreads falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side, "I'm sorry"

Rick stared at her. Her tone was cold and light, and she made no attempt to look back at him. His tired nerves stood to attention once again, "Michonne?"

She didn't answer, instead she tilted her head in the other direction as she washed her hands and began to hum an unrecognisable tune.

Rick took slow, cautious steps towards her, "What are you doing?"

"I'm washing my hands, silly", She replied sweetly.

"Look at me", He commanded, tilting his own head to see her reflection in the rectangular mirror bolted to the wall. She giggled as her eyes locked with his on the reflective surface, and gone were the russet brown eyes that he adored more than anything, replaced with the same white orbs that had been haunting him all night.

His breath hitched as he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him, his own eyes wide with panic, "Michonne!"

"What the hell, Rick?!", She snapped, her hand clutching at the basin to steady herself as she looked at him dubiously, "What are you doing?!"

Rick looked her from head to toe, "What just happened?"

"I'm asking you that?!"

"No, tell me what just happened?", He urged, his hands trembling as he shifted from one foot then the other.

Michonne squinted at him, "You came in here and grabbed me-"

"No, we were talking. I was asked you to look at me-"

"You weren't making any sense! You were mumbling!", She argued firmly, her familiar brown eyes darting all over his face, "What is going on Rick?"

He groaned as he blew out a harsh breath, "We can't stay here… I'm seeing stuff… thangs… it's messing with me and I can't… someone is toying with me- somethan' is toying with me and I'm losing my mind here-"

"Yeah you've said that", She took a step back and peered out the open bathroom door before returning to him with a quieter voice, "What is it? Tell me"

Rick rubbed his hands over his face furiously as he prepared to reveal everything that had happened, "Alright, first, when we were coming up here to the room-"

"Dad! Bernie's at the door", Carl called, "He wants to talk to you guys"

Rick glanced at Michonne as he stalked towards the door and out the bathroom. Sure enough Bernie was stood at the entrance to the room, his wrinkled face pulled into a tight smile as he spoke through gritted teeth, "I apologise, I just wanted to collect the silverware for the night. We don't have much of it so you'll need it tomorrow for breakfast"

Rick eyed the man as he stopped in front of him, "Sure. Take it"

"Thank you", Bernie chirped as he shuffled around Rick, "I hope you are all enjoying your room. This one is mother's favourite"

"I bet it is", Rick muttered, giving Michonne a knowing look as she stood beside him.

"You know…", Bernie began in a eerie tone as he bent over slowly to pick up one of the trays, "She had me right here in this room, years and years ago"

Carl's eyes bulged as he sat protectively beside a still sleeping Andre, while Rick stared at the back of the man's head, "...In this room, huh?"

"This very room. You see, this place belonged to her mother, my grandmother, after my grandfather died and left it to them. A lot of history in these walls", Bernie sighed happily as he looked at each member of the family.

"And the vents, too", Rick added, crossing his arms over his chest.

Bernie's friendly smile vanished as he peered up at the air vent, then back at Rick sheepishly as he picked up his pace, "Well yes, uh… it's probably best if you didn't look up there… _she doesn't like that_ "

Rick watched the man with a pinched face as he scurried out the room and closed the door behind him. He soon whipped around to face his girlfriend, "Did you hear that?!"

Michonne brought her gaze down from the air vent, her thin brows furrowed and her mouth slightly agape, "Did he just say-"

"Can we just leave? Please? I'd rather sleep in the bed of the truck than in here", Carl suggested, his eyes bouncing from one adult to the other, "Please?"

"I agree", Rick nodded, already making his way towards their bags, "Carl, put Andre's jacket on him-"

"Rick!", Michonne hissed as she turned her body to follow him, "We've already paid- can we even get a refund?"

"They can keep the money", He responded with a smirk, "Put it towards redecorating this place"

She gave a defeated sigh as she placed both hands on her lower back, "Fine, but we'll take the-"

" **Leave him alone**!"

Rick dropped the bag that he held when he heard another voice in the room, one that didn't belong to any of the members of his family. It sounded like the voice of an elderly woman with a spiteful tone. He spun around with alert eyes, and saw his son frozen in both shock and fear, his hands trembling as he held Andre's raincoat in his hands.

"Carl?", Michonne made a beeline for him, "What just happened?"

"Where'd that come from?", Rick demanded as he looked up towards the air vent, pulling his colt from his waistband, "Up there?"

"N-no…", Carl stuttered, his big blue eyes still glued to the toddler, "...It came... from Andre"

Both Rick and Michonne stilled as they looked at the preteen, then down at Andre, who was still sound asleep.

"I w-was going to put this on him…", Carl glanced at the jacket that he held, "And he… he… his eyes were closed but his mouth… he said it... He. Said. That"

Rick was struck with a memory in that moment, of a time when he, Michonne, Carl and Andre were at the Park for a small picnic for her mother's birthday, and Carl was getting the hang of performing his 'big brother' duties towards the younger boy, so insisted on taking him over to the playground. Rick watched them from his place at the bench with Michonne, and they were pleased to see both boys enjoying themselves, until Andre lost his footing on the climbing frame and fell to the ground. Rick always assumed it was the fall that scared him, as he wasn't harmed at all, but none the less Andre released a howl that echoed across the park.

The only reason that memory came to him in that moment, was because he could never forget the way his beloved girlfriend shot over to her son. He was convinced that her feet barely touched the ground. He didn't even know she could run as fast as she did, and one would think that nearing the end of her second trimester, she wouldn't be able to move like that in her pregnant state. That would be an incorrect thought.

Rick watched in amazement for a moment as Michonne shot from one side of the room to the other, gathering up her son and his bag as she barked, "We are getting out of here now!"

Within a matter of seconds she was already at the door, and both Rick and Carl had to move at a similar pace to catch up with her. He grabbed the duffle bag he shared with Michonne while Carl grabbed his own, and no one said a word as they power walked out the room. Rick slammed the door behind him and marched behind his family down the hall, his eyes immediately gliding to Mrs Harriet's room when it was in sight.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him to see the door creak open just as his son walked directly in front of it, and before Carl could get a chance to look to his right hand side, Rick reached out and grabbed hold of the handle, pulling the door shut as he declared hastily, "Nothing to see there. Keep it moving"

Rick knew that he may never learn who, or what, was bothering him in that room, but he didn't care to find out. He wanted his family out of Betsy's Breakfast and as far away as possible from Bernie and his mother.

"Hey! Everythan' alright? What's going on-", Bernie quizzed frantically as he stepped around the desk, watching as Michonne swung the entrance door open and walk out into the dark.

"We're done here", Rick explained flatly as he stepped around the man, making no attempt to look at him, "Tell your mother to keep her damn pancakes"

Bernie gasped, slapping his hand over his mouth as he watched with wide frightened eyes.

"You have a goodnight!", Rick almost sang as he held the handle to the front door, closing it behind him as he stepped over the threshold. He barely even reached the first step of the porch when he heard a loud sob that he suspected had come from Bernie, causing him to freeze for a split second.

"Mother, _please_!", Bernie pleaded in anguish from within the hallway, "Mother, stop!"

Rick was tempted to look back, but shook his head and mumbled, "Nope."

An hour later and they were back in his truck at the bottom of the hill. Andre was still fast asleep, but in his car seat, while Carl was slumped against the window and Michonne slumped on Rick's shoulder. He had tried to get some sleep, but his eyes kept wandering up towards the building. The light in one of the rooms on the second floor flicked on and off periodically, and for some reason Rick concluded that it was the room they had spent a short time in. He was certain that it was.

"Go to sleep", Michonne whispered she used shifted her position against him.

Rick glanced down at her before lifting his arm, so that she could lean on his chest instead, and she hummed a sweet sound in response as she drifted back to sleep. He took one last look towards the bed and breakfast at the top of the hill, where the light continued to flick on and off, but this time he could make out a dark figure by the window whenever the light came on. Rick didn't know whether it was because of sleep deprivation, or because he had truly lost his mind, but he sniggered quietly as he tapped his Colt against his knee, looking straight ahead of him. He muttered to himself, "I was right".


	10. Chapter 10 - After Shot - Game Time

A/N: This one-shot revolves around the family from After Hours. I won't be leaving them alone and hope to keep giving you guys updates on them. Hope you enjoy!

\- Bae

Game Time:

"We made it", Rick blew out a breath of relief when he saw people still making their way into the gymnasium. He peeked at his wristwatch and grinned, "Right on time"

"I told you we'd make it", Carl piped up from beside him, "You made me run for nothing, dad. You know that I _hate_ running for no reason"

"Be glad that I didn't make you carry your sister", Rick smirked as he adjusted his hold on Judith. She had clung to him quietly as he carried her and looked like a doll in her pink and white striped summer dress, frilly white socks and white tennis shoes. He smiled at the little girl, "Should we make your brother carry you next time?"

Judith shook her head furiously and her dark, wavy hair swished from side to side, "No."

"No? Why not?"

Judith's face crumbled as she answered in her sweet voice, "He drops me"

Rick tilted his head slightly, "Alright. That's fair."

"I dropped you _once_ , Judith", Carl appeared shocked at his sister's reason, "And I said sorry"

Judith frowned at him as she replied, "Mommy said once is enough"

Rick sniggered at her response. He could easily imagine his ex-wife saying such a thing.

They could hear a thunderous bass from the music being blasted in the hall before they even stepped into the sports hall. Cheerleaders performed in the center of the court while the teams prepared themselves. Rick cast his attention to the bustling bleachers and scanned the sea of faces until he saw the one he was looking for.

Michonne was perched on the second row of benches with her legs crossed and back straight as she spoke to her assistant beside her, who was tapping away at her phone screen as she nodded her head. They both stood out like sore thumbs; while everyone else was dressed rather casually in jeans and t-shirt, including Rick, his girlfriend wore a figure-hugging black dress and Rosita had on a white blouse and blue tight legged pants. They'd obviously just came from one of her stores.

When Michonne saw them approaching the bench her eyes lit up and she hopped up on her high heels, "Hey!"

"Hey", Carl gave her a little wave as he took a seat.

Rick took her by the waist and gave her a quick little kiss on her cheek. Her floral scented perfume didn't go unnoticed, "You alright?"

"Yeah, fine", Michonne's eyes didn't leave Judith, "Hey there, sweetie"

Judith flashed a small smile, "Hi"

"How are you, Rosita?", Rick asked her assistant politely.

"Great.", Rosita jumped up and gave him the usual blank stare, "Don't worry, I won't be intruding on your family outing, but I will be nearby."

She strutted past him and Michonne gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry. I'm just trying to make sure everything's running fine"

"I know, it's alright", Rick motioned for her to take a seat, then placed himself between her and Carl. Judith refused to leave his lap. He looked towards the court when the audience began to cheer, and he saw why; The school's mascot, a giant bumble-bee, ran near the cheerleaders. He grinned, "Is that Elodie in there?"

"Yep!", Michonne clapped proudly, "She's doing great!"

Elodie waved her hands, then jumped up and down a little too vigorously, so she slipped and landed on her side. The audience gasped, but no louder than her mother did. Rick put his hand on her leg, "It's alright, she'll get up"

It took her a moment and several attempts, but she finally stood up again and threw her hands in the air to show she was okay and the crowd cheered. Rick tapped Michonne's knee and she exhaled, "She's still getting used to the suit"

"She's doing great though", He insisted, "It seems like everyone likes her… Where's Colette?"

"Right there", Michonne pointed to her older daughter and he saw that she was standing far away from her teammates with her hands at her sides. Her uniform was black with gold piping and the number twenty-three on the back. She paced like a tiger, walking back and forth as she leered at the other team.

Rick scoffed, "Well, she certainly looks ready"

"She is. She takes her games very seriously and she refused to talk on the way here so she could get ' _in the zone_ '. She also made sure that Elodie and I didn't speak, either", Michonne ran her hand over Judith's hair as she spoke, then leaned forward to see his son, "Are you alright, Carl?"

"Yeah", Carl was too busy laughing at Elodie to look anywhere else.

"Do you remember Elodie, Judith?", Rick asked the little girl and waited for her to nod her head before he said, "Well, she's the bumble-bee. She's inside there"

Judith's little eyebrows furrowed as she asked, "She's in the bee?"

"She is."

"...Did it _eat_ her?"

Rick tried to hide his amusement because he knew she was being serious, "No. It's that's a costume she's wearing… Like your princess costume, you got at home"

Judith's face smoothed, "Oh, okay"

"You didn't have a problem getting here did you?", Michonne set her hand on his forearm.

"No, not at all", He met her gaze with his own, "Lori let me pick her up from school, so I just got 'em home and fed 'em… then we came up here"

"Oh, good"

Rick's eyes flickered all over her face, "You heard from their father?"

She shook her head, "No. He's too busy enjoying his honeymoon"

He rolled his eyes, "Of course."

The cheerleaders cleared the court so that the teams could take their places. Colette adjusted her ponytail and moved forward, while Elodie danced her way across the sideline. Rick watched them with as much amusement as his son did; Colette appeared ready to do some serious damage, while Elodie pranced up and down like a newborn gazelle. Even though he tried his best to reassure Michonne that she would do just fine, he feared for the younger sister. The chances of her being hurt were high.

"We should have brought snacks", Carl declared sourly as he unzipped his sweatshirt.

Rick looked at him with disbelief, "You can't seriously be hungry? I just fed you?"

Carl gave him an unimpressed look, "It's not cool to make people feel bad for being hungry, dad"

Rick slowly inhaled as he looked the other way, "I can't believe this¬"

The referee blew the whistle and the game began. To Rick's surprise Judith climbed off of his lap and placed herself on Michonne's, and his girlfriend looked as though she wanted to squeal with delight.

"Hey guys", Elodie appeared at the end of the bench with her bumble-bee head in her hands, "How'd I do?"

Everyone took their time to answer, but not because they thought she was underperforming as a mascot, but because her hair resembled a lion's mane. Michonne spoke first, "You didn't tie your hair up, honey?"

Elodie froze, then began touching her hair, "Oh… My… God"

"It's fine, she looks great¬ You look great", Rick insisted, which he thought was true because he'd never seen someone's hair have so much volume, "Doesn't she look great, Carl?"

His son nodded a little, "Yeah, like that fluffy dog we saw at the park"

Elodie looked more distressed.

"But like, cooler. _Way cooler_ ", Carl quickly added.

Elodie whimpered, "Mom?"

"It's fine, it's okay¬ It's probably just because you were sweating and we only just straightened it¬ but you look fine", Michonne gave her daughter a reassuring smile.

Elodie's eyes darted back and forth between their faces, and it seemed as though none of their words has helped. She shoved the head back on and said something else, but nobody understood her because she sounded muffled. They all nodded in agreement anyway. As soon as she started making her way back to the court, Rick asked Michonne, "What happened there?"

"She wanted to straighten her hair", She sighed, "To try something different"

Rick began to frown as he tried to understand her answer, "...Straightened it?"

"Yeah.", Michonne rolled her eyes, "I don't think she'll be doing that again for a while"

"I don't think she should. Her hair's fine the way it was before", Rick continued to frown as he looked back towards the game, "I don't understand why they need to start fussing with their hair and... stuff"

Michonne sighed, "It's a passage we all take. We start to mess around and see what works"

"...I didn't. I think I've always looked the same…"

"And I'm grateful for that.", She purred sweetly as she eyed the side of his face. Rick felt heat rise to his cheeks when he blushed, while Michonne giggled at him.

Parts of the crowd cheered when one of the girls on Colette's team scored, and the family joined in. Colette seemed pleased for only second, but then she went right back into the game.

Rick noticed Judith looking around in a slight panic so he was about to ask her what was wrong, but she chose to lean over to Michonne and whispered something in her ear. Michonne nodded in response to her, "Okay, let's go find you a little girls room"

Rick figured that the little girl needed the bathroom, and he really shouldn't have been surprised that she wanted to go with Michonne instead of him. He had introduced Judith to Michonne and the girls when Lori was dropping Carl off at his home one evening. Everyone got along so well that Lori and Judith stayed for dinner, and Rick believed when Judith witnessed her brother and mother bond with Michonne, it made it easier for her to do the same. It definitely made things easier when it came to visiting her, so even though Shane was reluctant to let his daughter spend time with Rick, Lori wasn't, and she'd grant him the right to take Judith with him when he asked.

He watched his girlfriend take her by the hand and lead her to the steps and his attention locked on Michonne's sensational figure. He had to force himself to look elsewhere before his mind started to wander.

"Are we going to the Diner after this?", Carl probed, "We should celebrate. At the Diner. I think Colette would like that."

Rick took his time looking at his son, "Yes, Carl. We can go out to eat when we're done."

The boy grinned, "Great."

"But we can't stay out too late because I have to get Judith back to your mother"

"Can't she stay over? Mom wouldn't mind"

His son was right, Lori wouldn't mind at all but the same couldn't be said for Shane. Rick tried to reply in his usual tone, "Yeah, but we didn't arrange that so I have to get her home as planned"

Carl huffed, "I know."

They both looked back at the court just as Colette had the ball. She moved effortlessly past the other players, shot the ball through the air, and landed it the net perfectly. Rick and Carl almost jumped out of the bench as they cheered, while the teen flicked her fluffy ponytail proudly. Elodie appeared on the sidelines dancing again, and it was then that Carl asked, "What is she doing?"

"If I'm not mistaken, she's doing 'The Charleston'...", Rick answered dryly, "Look it up when we get home"

Even though Rick was looking at the young girl, he still saw something soaring towards her at the corner of his eye. It was a full bottle of soda, and it knocked her right on the head of her costume. Elodie dropped to the floor like ton of bricks.

Rick bolted up and looked behind him; a group of boys were sat on the top row and trying not to laugh. The boys were obviously responsible for the attack, and his suspicions were proved to be correct by disapproving looks being sent in the teen's directions. Rick checked on Elodie and saw that a few people were helping her up, so he set his focus on the boys, "Don't move, Carl"

"Okay", His son split his attention between the boys and Elodie, looking back and forth between them.

Rick marched up the steps with thunder in his eyes as he tried to figure out who threw it. They all tried to sit up straight and act as though nothing had happened, but they were unable to compose themselves. Rick looked down at all of them when he reached their bench, "You're all here alone? No parents?"

They stopped laughing and started looking at each other. A seemingly pleasant looking dark-skinned boy in a red sweatshirt sat forward as though he was nominated to handle the adult, "We're old enough to be here by our¬"

"So which one of you threw the bottle?"

The boy paused, then shrugged as he replied smugly, "We don't know what you're talking¬"

"So I can take you all in for questioning?", Rick made his badge visible on his belt, "Because that was assault, and if she's injured then you're all responsible"

The boy immediately looked confused, "What? Y-you can't take us anywhere¬"

"Wanna' bet?", Rick cocked his head to the side, "One phone call and I'm marching you all out of here in front of everybody. You can call your parents at the station. What's your pleasure?"

The boy sat back a little as he lowered his gaze. The others continued to look between each other as if they were trying to decide what to do, when finally a blonde haired teen that was sat closer to Rick sat up straight, "It was me, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hurt her¬"

"Then what the hell do you think you were doing?", Rick narrowed his eyes at him.

The boy shrank a little, "I just thought it would be funny¬"

"You better hope she's not hurt", Rick warned, "Get the hell up, get down there and apologize, right now"

He stood up straight and gave the boy room to trudge past him and make his way down the steps. Rick had to calm himself down on way to Elodie, otherwise, he'd reenact what the boy did but from a closer range.

Elodie was standing up when they reached the court. She'd removed her costume head and was allowing one of the cheerleaders tend to her. She looked in Rick's direction and did a double take while the cheerleader made herself scarce. Elodie appeared doubtful, "...Uh?"

"Sorry", The boy offered rather quickly, "I thought it would be funny"

"Her name is Elodie, and I'm gonna' give you one more chance to apologize _properly_ ", Rick almost hissed the words, "Now do it"

The teen stood up a little straighter, "I'm sorry, Elodie. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just being an idiot."

Elodie peered up at Rick, then back at the boy, "...It wasn't funny."

"No. It wasn't. Sorry...Again."

She exhaled, "Okay."

The boy looked at Rick timidly from the corner of his eye, "...Um, can I¬"

"I better not have to come back up there", Rick warned again, "Go. Now."

Elodie watched the culprit sprint back up the steps, then huffed as she looked back at Rick, "Thanks"

"Are you alright? It didn't hurt, did it?", Rick placed his hand on her shoulder and looked her over.

"No. The head and my hair kind of made a barrier…", She examined her costume head, "There's no dent though, so that's good"

Rick sighed as he gave her a little reassuring squeeze, "You're doing great, alright? So don't you worry. We're all rooting for you and those boys won't be a problem again. I'm watching them."

She gave him one of her nervous smiles, "Thank you"

"Go on. Keep it up."

He took his time returning to his seat. Luckily she went back to performing to a cheering crowd, while Colette took a break on the bench. The older sister caught his attention and mouthed to him, ' _How am I doing_?!'

He mouthed back, ' _Perfect_!'

She grinned as she looked away. He was about to join Carl that Michonne snuck up behind him, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, you okay?", He looked down at Judith and saw that she had a small, content smile on her face.

"Fine. She said she didn't need help but it turns out she could use a little help", Michonne explained briefly. She then let Judith walk in front of her, "Come on, sweetie. Let's go back to our seats"

Rick glowered at the teen boys until he sat back down. He hoped that no one else would try and ruin Elodie's moment. He knew that taking part in something as adventurous as the team's mascot would be nerve-wracking for her, and he was so proud of her that he was going to do his best to make sure the evening went smoothly for her.

"Is she okay?", There was concern in Carl's voice, "Did he apologize?"

Rick was hoping to keep the incident quiet from Michonne, at least until they had left, but she heard his son and looked towards the court with alert eyes, "What happened? Did something happen? What? Tell me?"

Rick took a deep breath, "Some idiots threw a bottle of soda at Elodie while she was dancing and she fell¬"

"What?!", Michonne squawked, causing everyone within earshot to look at her in shock and Judith to jump out of fright.

He raised a hand to the people in front of him as sign of apology, then explained quietly, "I dealt with it. I threatened to put them in a cell for the night and that made one of them come clean and apologize to her. She said she's fine"

Michonne began looking around the bleachers, "You better tell me who it was, Rick¬"

"No, no, it's fine. I promise. I'm keeping an eye on 'em", He insisted calmly, "She's been doing so well and I don't want anythan' else to ruin this for her"

Michonne huffed and puffed as she began cursing under her breath, "Rick, I swear to God I will¬"

"I know. I know. We'll talk about it later, but for now, let's focus on the game¬ Colette scored while you were gone", He motioned towards the court, "She's doing great also"

"You scared me", Judith said as she turned back to look at the adults.

Michonne immediately softened and wrapped her lean arms around her, "I'm so sorry Judith, I didn't mean to"

"It's okay", Judith mumbled while accepting the affection.

"I promise you, after this, I'll point the boy out and you can go to town on him", Rick offered truthfully.

Michonne still looked a little sour but she seemed to take his word, "You better. I don't want anyone thinking they can get away with that¬"

"I know and I'll arrest him when you're done.", He managed to make her smile just as the crowd erupted in cheers because Colette had scored again.

The teen celebrated by running around the court screaming, "You better ask about me! Winning is a habit!"

Rick's eyebrows were high up in his forehead when he looked at Michonne, who simply said, "She's _passionate_."

"I can see that", He smirked at her as he watched Elodie shimmy her way across the sidelines, "Who taught her to dance, by the way?"

Michonne squirmed as she started stroking Judith's hair again, "I tried a little, but then I told her to just do what came naturally"

"...She dances how I think I might dance", Rick admitted, making Michonne burst into a fit of giggles and his eyes gaze didn't leave her face. He loved the way her eyes' glittered and her nose wrinkled when she laughed. He sighed, "You are beautiful"

She appeared bashful, "Rick…"

"I mean it", He insisted as he snaked his arm around her waist, "Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am"

"Well you aren't the only one", She insisted tenderly and put her hand on his knee, "I love when we get the kids together and just let them do whatever they want to do while we sit back and hope that Carl doesn't get hungry or Colette doesn't get bored, or Elodie doesn't hurt herself…"

Rick had to stifle a chuckle as he let his gaze fall between them, "That's exactly how it goes…"

"And on the special occasion that we get this little gem", Michonne indicate Judith, "Then we just have to hope that we can get to a bathroom in time"

"That's also true."

"I love it all, I love them…", Her gaze flickered all over his face, "And I love you"

The smile on Rick's face faded away out of surprise. They hadn't said such a thing to each other yet so it caught him off guard. He opened his mouth to speak but Carl leaped out of his seat on the other side of him when the audience roared with cheers once again, "Did you guys see that?!"

Michonne's oldest daughter started screaming obscenities again while Elodie tried her best to do a cartwheel to celebrate her sister's performance.

"We're gonna' have to get more than just burgers after this dad", Carl gave his father a knowing look, "We should probably get cake, too. And ice-cream."

Rick shot his son a breath side-eye before turning back to Michonne, who was encouraging Judith to clap along with everyone else. He gave her waist a little squeeze as whispered in her ear, "I love you, too"

Michonne sent him one of her contagious smiles in return, so he leaned in and captured her lips with his in sweet, tender kiss.

"Wait, dad, Can we get pizza instead¬"

"Yes, Carl".

 **END.**


End file.
